蜜芽传媒

The Sahara desert is the largest hot desert on earth. At over 3 陆 million square miles it is found in eleven north African countries. It鈥檚 emerged this week that in 2023, the largest ever recorded meteorite from Mars fell into the Agadez region of the Sahara, in the Republic of Niger. At 24.7kg and 40 cm across, it is by far the largest ever found, and most likely has been floating around in space for millions if not billions of years before falling into our desert. A dramatic and evocative arrival on our planet; a time capsule from another world that could help us unlock the mysteries of the universe.

But this exceptional Martian rock was sold at auction in New York 3 weeks ago by an anonymous private seller to an anonymous private bidder for a record $5.3m. How it made its way from Niger to an auction house in the United States is not completely clear, and the government of Niger has issued a statement raising the possibility that this is contrary to international law, the necessary legislative framework not yet being in place in the country.
The government isn鈥檛 the only body to be protesting about this: the scientific community are now dependent on the permission of this individual owner as to whether the rock can be studied in detail, to analyse more effectively the processes of the cosmos.

Of course, the operation of licensing systems, inter-governmental agreements on regulation and access for scientists are important practical considerations that are raised by this sort of event.
But the landing of this meteorite and what has happened to it since throws up fundamental moral questions about land, possession, the commercialising of natural resources. Who, if anyone, thinks they can own space?

In Christian spiritual practice, the cosmos and the day-to-day ethics of human living are intimately linked: the unseen God who holds the stars apart is intimately involved in the mess of human living.
This rock came to us from beyond the horizon. A horizon that is simply the limit of our sight. Imagining what鈥檚 out there, in a spirit of exploration and studying to learn more, are God-given human gifts that can be harnessed for good or ill. But when does a spirit of adventure change into the determination to colonise? When does the desire to share values turn into coercion and the destruction of what was already there? When does excitement about finding a beautiful rock from another world fuel its exploitation for personal profit and power?

The arrival of the largest piece of Mars to ever fall to earth raises fundamental challenges for us as human beings, and in this first test, I want to suggest, we have not covered ourselves in glory.

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