A rock blasted off Mars is not a comet and is only a meteor for seconds; in space it is a meteoroid, and on the ground it becomes a Martian meteorite

A rock blasted off Mars is not a comet and is only a meteor for seconds; in space it is a meteoroid, and on the ground it becomes a Martian meteorite

A piece of Mars found on Earth can collect four different labels during one journey. The object begins as Martian rock. Once an impact launches it into space, it is a meteoroid. Its bright passage through Earth’s atmosphere is a meteor. If some of it reaches the ground, that surviving piece is a meteorite. It is not a comet, and the object that hits Mars to start the journey is not the same object that eventually lands here. The impactor may be …