Rare Meteorite May Have Taken a Round Trip From Earth to Space and Back

Amaze Lab

When you think of the word meteorite you probably imagine a bit of fiery rock crashing down to Earth. However, now experts say that a meteorite discovered in Morocco back in 2018 started its journey on our planet at some point before being jettisoned into space, only to end up back here again.

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00:00When you think of the word meteorite, you probably imagine a bit of fiery rock crashing down to Earth.

00:08But now experts say that a meteorite discovered in Morocco back in 2018 started its journey on our planet at some point,

00:15before being jettisoned into space, only to end up back here again.

00:19The meteorite is called NWA 13188, and while it's quite small, it's also quite unique.

00:24Experts say it was formed from volcanoes in an oceanic area. It has easily identifiable oxygen isotopes.

00:30These isotopes, along with other Earth-bound trace elements, reveal it's pretty clear this rock started on our planet.

00:36However, it also has some other elements in it as well, ones known only to be caused by exposure to cosmic radiation during space travel.

00:44It also has the signature of atmospheric re-entry, an outside layer of melted material called fusion crust.

00:49Now experts say they believe this rock was made on Earth, but then spent around 10,000 years in space at some point afterwards.

00:56So how did it get into space from Earth?

00:57One theory is that another space rock, this time an asteroid, hit Earth hard enough to send material flying out into space.

01:03And this is actually something astronauts have found evidence of before as well.

01:07As back in 1971, they discovered a rock on the moon, which had its origins on Earth.

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