Martian Meteorite

Martian Meteorite Fragment – Hassi Messaoud 001 (Nakhlite)
An Authentic Piece of Mars

Own a tangible fragment of another world. This specimen is part of Hassi Messaoud 001, an exceptionally rare Martian meteorite of the nakhlite class, recovered from the Sahara Desert near El Borma, Algeria, on March 11, 2020. Only 75 grams of this meteorite were ever found, making each piece an extraordinary collector’s item.

Nakhlites are a distinctive type of igneous Martian rock, formed around 1.3 billion years ago from slow-cooling basaltic magma on the surface of Mars. Rich in augite and olivine, these stones are not only volcanic in origin—they were also altered by liquid water on Mars around 620 million years ago, offering rare geological evidence of the planet’s wetter past.

Ejected from Mars by an asteroid impact roughly 11 million years ago, Hassi Messaoud 001 traveled through space before eventually landing on Earth, a journey that ended in the Algerian desert. This journey is part of what makes Martian meteorites so precious: they represent less than 0.5% of all classified meteorites, and only a few hundred kilograms of Martian material have ever been found on Earth.

Visually, Martian meteorites often resemble volcanic rocks from Earth, making their discovery especially challenging. That’s why most are recovered from places where terrestrial rocks are scarce—like Antarctica or the dunes of the Sahara. Scientific analysis confirms their Martian origin by comparing their isotopic fingerprints with data from Mars missions.

Each fragment we offer is <5mm (<.05g) in size. Whether you're a seasoned collector, a science enthusiast, or a lover of the extraordinary, this fragment offers a direct connection to the volcanic landscapes of Mars and the deep-time processes that shaped them.