Famous Allan Hills Mars meteorite in space found in Antarctica

Science: One of the most famous Mars meteorites was found in Antarctica on December 27, 1984. The meteorite, known as Allan Hills 84001, was found in the Allan Hills, a cluster of hills in Antarctica. It was found by a U.S. team of meteorite hunters from a National Science Foundation program called ANSMET, which stands for Antarctic Meteorite Search. Weighing a little over 4 pounds, this space rock is considered one of the oldest Mars meteorites ever found on Earth.

Scientists estimate that it crystallized from molten rock more than 4 billion years ago, when there was still liquid water on the surface of Mars. It has also been the source of controversy about the search for life on Mars that continues to this day. Scientists determined that the meteorite likely came from a region called Valles Marineris. To figure this out, they compared spacecraft data on the chemical composition of Mars to the chemical composition of the meteorite. Scientists believe the meteorite was launched into space from a meteorite that fell on Mars about 17 million years ago, and hit Earth about 13,000 years ago.