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.

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.

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,

The largest piece of Mars on Earth became the most valuable meteorite ever sold at auction at Sotheby’s annual ”Geek Week,” and a full Ceratosaurus skeleton fetched $30 million. Next up for bidding: an Apple computer hand-built by Steve Jobs.