Curtin-led research finds origin of Martian meteorites - Australian Defense Magazine
New research led by Curtin University has pinpointed the home of the oldest and most famous Martian meteorite for the first time, offering important geological clues to Mars’ early origins. Using a multidisciplinary approach involving machine learning algorithms, new research – published today in Nature Communication – identified a specific crater on Mars that ejected the so-called ‘Black Beauty’ meteorite, weighing 320 grams, and paired rock, which was first reported to have been found in northern Africa in 2011. Researchers have named a particular Martian crater after the town of Karratha in the Pilbara, 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 Center in the School of Earth and Planetary Sciences, said the exciting discovery offered previously unknown details about the Mars meteorite NWA 7034, known as ‘Black Beauty’, which is widely st