You guys are dancing around the answer to the question. The Vernadsky
Institute has in their possession a meteorite that they believe came from Phobos.
Why do they think so? Because it has a spectral match with carbonaceous
chondrites as does Phobos and it has at least 2 clasts that are Shergottite like
that they theorize were blasted off Mars and were later captured by Phobos and
incorporated into its regolith, before being blasted into space and eventually
falling to Earth.
The meteorite is Kaidun, which I mentioned about 2 weeks ago.
The Russian claim is interesting. Kaidun is certainly an unusual meteorite, sort of a "meteorite collection" in and of itself, a polymict breccia containing carbonaceous chondrite matter and enstatite/achondrite lithologies. Interestly some clasts which appear in Kaidun appear to have an oxygen isotope and petrological composition matching that of Tagish Lake. The reflectance spectra of D-class asteroids match that of Tagish Lake most closely. Portions of Phobos and Deimos appear to have a D-class composition. However, the closest spectral match to Tagish Lake is asteroid 511 Davida. I think there is a story here we're not able to read clearly yet.
-- Philip R. "Pib" Burns [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.pibburns.com/
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