A 54-pound rock from Mars is set to go under the hammer at a New York auction house, with an estimated price tag of $2 million to $4 million. The piece, known as NWA 16788, is believed to have been blown off the Martian surface by a massive asteroid strike and traveled 140 million miles to reach Earth. It represents nearly 7% of all Martian material currently on our planet and is about 70% larger than the next largest piece found on Earth.
The rock, which measures 15 inches by 11 inches by 6 inches, was discovered in Niger last November and has been confirmed as a genuine Martian meteorite through specialized analysis. It was compared to Martian rocks brought back by the Viking space probe in 1976 and found to have an “olivine-microgabbroic shergottite” composition.
The auction is part of Sotheby’s Geek Week 2025, which features over 100 items, including other meteorites and fossils. The Martian rock is expected to attract significant interest from collectors and scientists alike, given its rarity and significance as the largest piece of Mars ever found on Earth.
Source: https://www.npr.org/2025/07/13/nx-s1-5466061/biggest-piece-mars-auction