There’s really no substitute for ‘ground truth,’ and the Martian meteorites represent the only known samples from that planet.” In those words, geochemist Ralph Harvey encapsulates the scientific significance behind the record-breaking sale of a 54-pound Martian meteorite at Sotheby’s in New York.

Yesterday, auction house Sotheby’s just auctioned off the largest known Martian meteorite. The stone NWA 16788 sold for $5.3 million, more than expected and the highest price ever for a meteorite. The largest Martian meteorite on Earth The Sotheby’s auction for meteorite NWA 16788,

A chunk of the Martian surface that at some point crashed into Earth sold Wednesday, July 16 to an anonymous bidder for a record $5.3 million.

Add this to the list of "things that might be fun if you had a buttload of money": Someone forked over $5.3 million in a Sotheby's auction to own a piece of Mars. The Red Planet meteorite was discovered in 2023 in a remote area of the Sahara Desert in Niger.