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How does a meteor become a meteorite?

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asteroid Ida and its satellite, Dactyl — Small body Asteroid Ida and its satellite, Dactyl, photographed by the Galileo spacecraft on August 28, 1993, from a distance of about 10,870 km (6,750 miles). Ida is about 56 km (35 miles) long and shows the irregular shape and impact craters characteristic of many asteroids. The Galileo image revealed that Ida is accompanied by a tiny companion about 1.5 km (1 mile) wide, the first proof that some asteroids have natural satellites.

A small body in space begins as a meteoroid, which is a natural object—typically a fragment of an asteroid or comet—orbiting the Sun.12

When a meteoroid enters Earth’s atmosphere at high velocity, it undergoes intense frictional heating due to collisions with atmospheric atoms and molecules. This process creates a luminous streak of light in the sky known as a meteor.12

Most meteoroids are destroyed during this fiery passage through ablation or fragmentation. However, if a meteoroid is sufficiently large or possesses enough structural strength to survive the journey without being completely vaporized, the remaining chunk that lands on Earth’s surface is called a meteorite. Upon reaching the ground, these objects often exhibit a dark, glassy "fusion crust" caused by the melting of their surface during entry.314