Space.com contributing writer Stefanie Waldek is a self-taught space nerd and aviation geek who is passionate about all things spaceflight and astronomy.
— but, until then, we have to make do with what we've got. Fortunately, we actually have some Martian material to work with, thanks to
"Martian meteorites are the only physical materials we have available from Mars," Scripps Oceanography geologist James Day, lead author of a study on the research, said in a."They enable us to make precise and accurate measurements and then quantify processes that occurred within Mars and close to the Martian surface.
"By determining that nakhlites and chassignites are from the same volcanic system, and that they interacted with Martian crust that was altered by atmospheric interactions, we can identify a new rock type on Mars," Day said.Day finds the similarities and differences between volcanism on Mars and Earth to be remarkable."On the one hand, nakhlites and chassignites formed in similar ways to recent volcanism in places like Oahu in Hawaii.
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