A few years ago, a pair of meteorites were discovered in the Sahara Desert.They were named NWA 7034 and NWA 7533, where NWA
The earliest fragments formed on Mars 4.4billion years ago, making them the oldest known meteorites on this planet. By the way, such stones are rare and can cost up to $ 10,000 per gram. Recently, 50 grams of NWA 7533 were purchased for analysis by an international team that included Professor Takashi Mikochi from the University of Tokyo.
The Martian meteorite NWA 7533 is more expensive than its weight in gold. Credit: © NASA / Luc Labenne.
“I study minerals in Martian meteorites,to understand how Mars formed, its crust and mantle evolved, ”explains Mikuchi. “Our NWA 7533 samples have been subjected to four different spectroscopic analyzes. The results have led our team to some exciting conclusions. "
Planetary scientists are well aware that water onMars has existed for at least 3.7 billion years. But based on the mineral composition of the meteorite, Mikuchi and his team concluded that water probably appeared on the planet much earlier, about 4.4 billion years ago.
If water appeared on Mars earlier thanit was assumed this means that water is possibly a common natural byproduct of some kind. yet unknown, a process at an early stage of planet formation, scientists are sure. The discovery could help researchers answer the question of the origin of water, which in turn could influence theories about the origin of life outside of Earth.
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