 Asteroids usually sit doing not very much in a belt of rubble between the inner planets and the

outer gas and ice giants. But for some reason or other they sometimes get pulled out of orbit or
are smashed up and, by chance, end up on a collision course with Earth. These travelling space
rocks are called meteoroids.
 As soon as they land or are found, meteorites become prized assets for planetary scientists
keen to unlock the secrets they hold about the history of the solar system.