QUESTION:
Where can I buy a sample of Martian sand and how much would it cost?

ANSWER from Donna Shirley on August 24, 1997:
I'm sorry to disappoint you, but there will be no Mars sand available until
at least 2008, when our first sample return mission gets back from Mars. 
However, there are meteorites from Mars here on Earth which might count as
"sand".  They are very, very expensive, but I will forward your question to
an expert, Ron Baalke.

ANSWER from Ron Baalke on August 24, 1997:
Mars meteorites are very expensive these days.  The cheapist and easiest
Mars meteorite to obtain is called Zagami (it fell on Earth in Zagami,
Nigeria in 1962).  Zagami prices run at about $750/gram to $1000/gram.  A 2
gram fragment is about the size of a nickel.  However, there are small
fragments of Zagami sold in capsules that run about $25 to $50 a capsule. 
You can obtain some from a meteorite dealer named Michael Blood, and he has
a home page available at:

http://www.meteorite.com/Michael_Blood/catalog.htm