Overview

• At a Sotheby’s auction in New York on July 16, NWA 16788 sold for a record $4.3 million hammer price, totaling $5.3 million with fees.
• Weighing nearly 25 kilograms, it is the largest known Martian meteorite on Earth and represents about 7 percent of all documented Martian rock mass.
• Its composition includes over 20 percent maskelynite glass and an olivine-microgabbro shergottite structure, prompting calls to revise Martian meteorite classification schemes.
• Scientists confirmed its Martian origin by matching gas inclusions trapped in the meteorite’s glass to atmospheric measurements from NASA’s Viking landers.
• The anonymous sale underscores a debate over how private acquisitions fund expeditions yet limit open research access to rare extraterrestrial specimens.