Meteorite NWA 13188 is a basaltic meteorite found in the Sahara Desert in 2018. It has been classified as an achondrite, meaning it has not been changed since its formation. NWA 13188 is the first known meteorite to fly into space and then return to Earth:
A scientific study published in 2023 analyzed the chemical composition of NWA 13188. The study found that the meteorite is composed of a mix of minerals, including olivine, pyroxene and plagioclase. NWA 13188 also contains small amounts of iron and nickel. The study also found that NWA 13188 is very old. Its age has been estimated at about 4.5 billion years, which is about the same age as the Earth. The results of the study are important because they provide information about the chemical composition and age of the meteorite. This information can be used to better understand the formation and evolution of the solar system. If true, this rock – officially called ‘Northwest Africa (NWA) 13188’– would be the first meteorite (that we know of) to have made this extraordinary round trip:
According to reports, the fact that this 646-gram “space rock boomerang” may have gone on a celestial excursion isn’t the only strange part of its story. NWA 13188’s bubbly appearance, crystal texture, and precise chemical composition strongly suggest the type of rocks that form from molten minerals produced by volcanoes near sinking ocean plates right here on Earth. With the addition of the oxygen isotope mixture and the signature of trace elements, and it becomes highly doubtful that this rock is a meteorite. At least, not the typical space-rock variety. However, according to Jérôme Gattacceca , a geophysicist at the French National Center for Scientific Research who presented his team’s findings at the Goldschmidt geochemistry conference in France , the rock had an interesting journey that saw it spend a significant amount of time in orbit.
While the concentration of these isotopes was lower than that of other meteorites , it was significantly higher than other rocks on Earth. This suggested that NWA 13188 had been exposed to galactic cosmic rays for a short but significant period, up to a few tens of thousands of years. NWA 13188 also had a glassy “melting crust”, suggesting that it may have melted as it entered Earth’s atmosphere. All of this “precludes that NWA 13188 is a man-made ‘fake’ meteorite,” write Gattacceca and his colleagues. “Therefore, we consider NWA 13188 a meteorite, launched from the Earth and subsequently regrown on its surface ,” they conclude.researchers. The scientific study here: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/361365963_Northwest_Africa_13188_A_meteorite_from_the_Earth .
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