“This meteorite is special because it falls into an icy lake and is quickly rescued. It was very primitive. We found that the minerals did not change much, and later found that they contained a rich inventory of extrinsic organic compounds, “Heck said in a statement.

The researchers determined that it was a rare H4 chondrite meteorite representing the four percent found on Earth. Preliminary analysis determined that it contained more than 2,600 individual organic compounds that remained intact even after intense intense burning through the atmosphere. They also found that it probably separated from its parent asteroid 12 million years ago, forming 4.5 million years ago.

“Many scientists were able to investigate the rock using a variety of techniques,” Heck said, “so we have an unusually large amount of data for a single meteorite,” Heck said.

Although the meteorite was as clear as the Earth’s landmass, scientists are particularly concerned about getting their hands on truly ancient specimens from the source. This is expected to happen in 2023 when NASA spacecraft Osiris-RX is successfully captured from the planet Venus and ready to return to Earth.