They found that NWA 7034 belongs to the ejecta deposits of the Khujirt crater formed 1.5 billion years ago, and it was ejected as a result of the formation of the Karratha crater 5-10 milliom years ago. Lagain and colleagues analyzed a very large volume of high-resolution planetary images through a machine learning algorithm to detect impact craters. Using a supercomputer at the Pawsey Supercomputing Research Centre, and the Curtin HIVE (Hub for Immersive Visualisation and eResearch), Dr. “For the first time, we know the geological context of the only brecciated Martian sample available on Earth, 10 years before NASA’s Mars Sample Return mission is set to send back samples collected by the Perseverance rover currently exploring the Jezero crater.” Anthony Lagain, a researcher with the Space Science and Technology Centre at Curtin University. “Black Beauty is the only brecciated Martian sample available on Earth, meaning it contains angular fragments of multiple rock types cemented together which is different from all other Martian meteorites that contain single rock types,” said Dr. NWA 7034 contains the oldest Martian igneous material ever dated - about 4.5 billion years old. Known more commonly as ‘Black Beauty,’ it was discovered in the Moroccan Sahara desert back in 2011. NWA 7034, approximately 320 grams in weight, is a regolith breccia from Mars. An artist’s impression of where an asteroid hit the surface of Mars 5-10 million years ago, ejected NWA 7034 and its transit to the Earth.
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