ALH84001 is a small but very significant meteorite which fell to Earth from space. The meteor landed in a region of Antarctica known as the Allen Hills ice field and was later discovered in December 1984 by an United States meteorite hunting expedition. These fields where the rock was located are regularly explored by researchers watching for asteroids given the ice and snow make a great contrasting backdrop to identifying anomalous substances upon the vast expanses of snow and ice. When it was discovered the space rock weighed around 4.3 pounds and was shaped like a house brick and measured around 63 long by 43 x 33, and was encased within a black glass substance. The glass, named fusion crust, deposits itself on all meteorites when they blaze throughout the Planets atmosphere upon re-entry.
The record of the meteorite can be re-established from the geology and chemical composition of the rock itself. The rock undeniably began life on Mars and gas inclusions comprise gases indistinguishable to those on modern Mars in compound and isotopic structure, which are constructed in no other known planet other than Mars. The meteor is volcanic, and hardened throughout its 4.5 Billion year lifespan. The rock proceeded throughout at least 2 collisions on Mars, most likely neighbouring crashes, about 4 Million tears ago. The carbonates that were interpreted to be fossils developed subsequently, around 3.6 billion years, in grooves in the rock. The specimen was dislodged from the Martian surface around 16 million years ago probably by some form of massive Asteroid collision and continued to drift in space for the majority of interviening the period before descending to Earth approximately 12,500 years ago.
The verification for alien life within the meteor, as claimed by scientists in the late mid 1990's is principally presented on two levels of evidence; PAH's, and magnetite beads.
PAH's
Scientists evidently conceived this was their optimal indication for alien life in the form of fossilised bacteria, however this has been totally dispelled given Science has in the intervening period determined that the presence of PAH which is effectively 'Soot', is not relevant within the argument supporting this theory. It has since been revealed that the denseness and compound dissimilarity of the PAHs is wholly coherent with a non biological beginning.
Magnetite
Probably, the best indication that these genuinely are fossils is the attendance of magnetite beads. These appear precisely like the magnetite beads in magnetotactic Micro-organisms in measurement and structure, moreover if created on Earth would be thought over to be noncontroversial "magnetofossils". Magnetite can be manufactured synthetically, but to our current knowledge is presented naturally, only in a biological form. The bigger particles are known as single domain magnets, the likes of the inner magnetosome particles, and the slighter specimens are known as super magnetic, similar to the periplasmic crystallizations caused by a variety of the magnetotactic family.
Carbonate deposits
The noticeable suggestion for existence in this asteroid is what look to be fossil micro-organisms within the carbonates that were created there 3.6 billion years ago. They appear as rod formed Micro-organisms, and this is almost certainly what gave rise to the great curiosity in this claim. At present there are two serious apprehensions about these alleged Martian fossils; their dimensions, and the source of the carbonates. The fossils are tiny much shorter than conventional Micro-organisms at 20-100nm. The proportion allocation of the fossils is also troublesome given Earth bound microbic communities characteristically are moderately narrow in proportion, however the Martian fossil differ additionally by 100 times in capacity.
In spite of the fact that the PAH and carbonate proof has turn out to be less than persuasive, the magnetite information have stood up to scrutiny much better. More recently, successions of magnetite beads that appear exactly like those discovered in the cytol of magneto tactic specimens have been located within other samples from ALH84001 and in additional associated Martian rocks.
Nevertheless, all of the assertions about the magnetite beads in ALH84001 are challenged, and corresponding beads have been integrated by reproducing alternative plausible records of the meteorite in the research laboratory.
One characteristic of the ALH84001 space rock which is evident is the reality that it journeyed from Mars to Earth. Additional asteroids have completed the journey in far less time than ALH84001, and so it looks distinctly possible that if there is life on Mars, it may possibly have been carried here, conceivably living.
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