Scientists suspect iron meteorites might be able to resist erosion on Mars, which may explain why some appear perched on flat ground rather than embedded in craters. In other cases, a crater may have weathered away long ago, leaving only the rock behind.

The ESCAPADE mission, which launched to space on a Blue Origin rocket on Thursday, breaks the mold of how planetary science missions typically come together.

Mars is a cold, dry, desert-like planet. But billions of years ago, scientific evidence suggests that it had a thick atmosphere, which kept it warm enough to support flowing water on its surface. So, what happened to the Red Planet, and could it happen to Earth?