Mars' oldest meteorite tracked to bizarre double impact crater
Researchers have tracked the oldest known Martian meteorite to its precise point of origin using artificial intelligence (AI), and the findings could help reveal what conditions were on our planet. solar system the planets were like during their first days. The 11 ounce (320 gram) meteorite, officially nicknamed Northwest Africa 7034 but commonly known as “Black Beauty,” is believed to have hit Earth about 5 million years ago. After being discovered in the Sahara Desert in 2011, its age was estimated to be just under 4.5 billion years – making it the oldest Martian meteorite ever found on Earth. Scientists believe the meteorite was launched to Earth after a powerful asteroid impact hit Mars, tearing apart parts of the planet’s crust and spraying it into space. Now, using machine learning algorithms to identify and catalog the 94 million craters on Mars, researchers have traced the origins of Black Beauty to small craters within craters in Mars’ southern ...
