Are there meteorites on the Moon and Mars?
Yes! Astronauts found a meteorite on the Moon in 1969, and rovers on Mars have found several iron meteorites lying on the surface.
Meteorites do not only land on Earth. They fall on every world, and some have been found on the Moon and Mars.
On the Moon, there is no air to slow space rocks, so most smash into the ground at enormous speed and break apart or melt. But small bits survive. In November 1969, Apollo 12 astronauts collected a rock near a crater that turned out to be a meteorite, a chondrite, now called Bench Crater. Apollo 15 astronauts collected another, later named Hadley Rille. Tiny pieces of meteorites are also mixed into lunar soil.
On Mars, the thin air slows space rocks a little, so more survive. In 2005, NASA's Opportunity rover found an iron meteorite about the size of a basketball, which scientists nicknamed Heat Shield Rock because it lay near the rover's discarded heat shield. Opportunity found several more. The Curiosity rover has also found iron meteorites, including one nicknamed Lebanon, about 2 metres long, and another called Cacao in 2023.
Iron meteorites stand out on Mars because they are shiny, rounded and different from the surrounding rocks. Studying how they have rusted helps scientists learn about the Martian climate.