Want to own a huge chunk of Mars? It'll likely cost you up to $4 million
CBSN
A bidder here on Earth will soon shell out a lot of green for a piece of the red planet as Sotheby's puts a Martian meteorite up for auction.
NWA 16788, the largest piece of Mars on Earth, is expected to fetch up to $4 million during the July 16 auction in New York City, according to Sotheby's. Pieces of Mars found on Earth are rare. According to the auction house, just 400 of the more than 77,000 officially recognized meteorites found on Earth — or about 0.6% — are from Mars. The meteorite represents approximately 6.5% of all Martian material currently known on Earth.
Meteorites come from meteors, space rocks that enter Earth's atmosphere. Most meteors burn up as they fall toward Earth, but the ones that survive the trip through Earth's atmosphere are considered meteorites. The chunk of Martian rock being auctioned off by Sotheby's was likely dislodged from the planet by an asteroid strike.
