The freshness of the fusion crust suggests that the meteorite landed only about 100 years ago. Mr. Reed sold the meteorite to the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County in 1979. They are classified as a shergottite, a meteorite type identified as being of Martian origin. The smaller of the two pieces, weighing 234 grams, is displayed courtesy of Mr. Verish. The other piece weighs about 453 grams.
Martian meteorites are relatively young.
They are volcanic rocks that range in age from a few hundred million years to about 1.3 billion years old in contrast to the 4.5 billion years for most other meteorites. Confirmation of their Martian origin came when the gases trapped in glassy nodules on these meteorites were found to be identical to the Martian atmosphere as measured by the Viking Lander. Millions of years ago, large meteorites impacted the surface of Mars blasting chunks of the Martian crust into space. To escape the gravity of Mars, these rocks had to reach speeds of 11,000 miles per hour, more than five times the muzzle velocity of a hunting rifle. The only known natural process that could do this is a large meteorite impact.