Could I ever find a piece of Mars?
It is possible but very unlikely. About 400 meteorites from Mars are known, mostly found in deserts and Antarctica by experienced hunters.
Pieces of Mars really have landed on Earth, and some people have found them. But they are among the rarest rocks on our planet.
How they got here. Big space rocks crashing into Mars can blast pieces of Mars into space. A few of those pieces travel around the Sun for millions of years and eventually fall to Earth as meteorites.
How rare are they? About 400 Martian meteorites have been named, and many of them are pieces of the same falls. That is less than 1 per cent of all known meteorites. Most were found in hot deserts, like the Sahara, or on the ice of Antarctica, where dark stones are easier to spot and last longer.
What do they look like? Many Martian meteorites look like dark volcanic rocks, sometimes greenish or grey inside, with a black crust. Without special tests, they are hard to tell from other meteorites and Earth rocks.
How do scientists know they are from Mars? Some contain tiny bubbles of gas that match the air of Mars, measured by spacecraft that landed there.
Your chances. Finding one by chance in Britain is extremely unlikely. But you can see Martian meteorites in some museums, and that is the next best thing to visiting Mars.