Heat Shield Rock

Heat Shield Rock
Heat Shield Rock
TypeIron
GroupProbably IAB
Composition93% Iron, 7% nickel, trace of germanium (~300 ppm) & gallium (<100 ppm)
RegionMeridiani Planum
Coordinates1°54′S 354°30′E / 1.9°S 354.5°E / -1.9; 354.5
Observed fallNo
Found dateJanuary 2005
Alternative namesMeridiani Planum meteorite
Related media on Wikimedia Commons

Heat Shield Rock is a basketball-sized iron-nickel meteorite found on the Meridiani Planum plain of Mars by the Mars rover Opportunity in January 2005.

Informally referred to as "Heat Shield Rock" by the Opportunity research team, the meteorite was formally named Meridiani Planum meteorite by the Meteoritical Society in October 2005 (meteorites are always named after the place where they were found).[1]

  1. ^ The Meteoritical Society, Guidelines For Meteorite Nomenclature, 2.2 Distinctive names [1]