State of Origin of Famous Martian Rock Identified - SPACE & DEFENSE

New Curtin-led research has pinpointed the exact home of the oldest and most famous Martian meteorite for the first time ever, offering critical geological clues about the earliest origins of Mars. Using a multidisciplinary approach involving a machine learning algorithm, the new research – published today in Nature Communications – identified the particular crater on Mars that ejected the so-called'Black Beauty' meteorite, weighing 320 grams, and paired stones, which were first reported as being found in northern Africa in 2011. The researchers have named the specific Mars crater after the Pilbara city of Karratha, located more than 1500km north of Perth in Western Australia, which is home to one of the oldest terrestrial rocks. Lead author Dr Anthony Lagain, from Curtin's Space Science and Technology Centre in the School of Earth and Planetary Sciences, said the exciting discovery offered never-before-known details about the Martian meteorite NWA 7034, known as'Black Beauty', which is widely studied across the globe. Beauty is the only brecciated Martian sample available on Earth, meaning it contains angular fragments of multiple rock types cemented together which is different from all other Martian meteorites that contain single rock types.