NASA Logo

NTRS

NTRS - NASA Technical Reports Server

Collections About News Help Login
Back to Results
Earth rocks on Mars: Must planetary quarantine be rethoughtRecent geochemical, isotopic, and rare gas studies suggest that eight SNC meteorites originated on the planet Mars. Since Martian rocks are found on Earth, consideration is being given to finding Earth rocks on Mars. Detailed consideration of the mechanism by which these meteorites were lofted into space strongly suggest that the process of stress-wave spallation near a large impact with, perhaps, an assist from vapor plume expansion, is the fundamental process by which lightly-shocked rock debris is ejected into interplanetary space. The theory of spall ejection was used to examine the mass and velocity of material ejected from the near vicinity of an impact. It seems likely that the half-dozen largest impact events on Earth would have ejected considerable masses of near surface rocks into interplanetary space. No computations were performed to indicate how long Earth ejecta would take to reach Mars.
Document ID
19890008966
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Melosh, H. J. (Arizona Univ. Tucson, AZ, United States)
Date Acquired
September 5, 2013
Publication Date
January 1, 1988
Publication Information
Publication: Lunar and Planetary Inst., Workshop on Mars Sample Return Science
Subject Category
Lunar And Planetary Exploration
Accession Number
89N18337
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Work of the US Gov. Public Use Permitted.

Related Records

There are no records associated with this record.
No Preview Available