Scientists report the existence of water on Mars 4.4 billion years ago in the analysis of a meteorite found in the Sahara Desert.

The mineral composition of the Mars meteorite NWA 7533, discovered in 2012, reveals the chemical signatures of oxidation – which would have occurred when water formed.

The 84-gram meteorite was part of a landing spot in northwest Africa and was part of a celestial rock that split as it entered Earth’s atmosphere.

Planetary scientists already know that the Red Planet has had water for at least 3.7 billion years.

Given the age of the previously established NWA 7533 and the composition of the newly discovered minerals, the researchers estimate that there was another water 700,000 years ago.

If there was water on Mars earlier than thought, this indicates that water is a natural by-product of certain processes from the very beginning of the formation of the planets.

This will help answer the question of where water comes from, which will influence theories about the origin of extraterrestrial life.

Professor Takashi Mikouchi, a study author at the University of Tokyo, said: “Samples of our NWA 7533 were subjected to four different types of spectroscopic analysis – methods for detecting chemical fingerprints.

We found strong evidence for the oxidation of magma.

Meteorite volcanoes, or decomposed rock, are formed from magma, which is usually caused by impact and oxidation.

This oxidation would have occurred if water had been present in the crust or water of Mars 4.4 billion years ago.

The analysis also indicates that such an impact would release a lot of hydrogen.

‘[This] At a time when Mars already had a thick insulating atmosphere of carbon dioxide, it would have caused the planets to heat up, ‘Mikuchi said.

If there was water on Mars earlier than previously thought, this indicates that water is a natural by-product of certain processes at the very beginning of the planet’s formation.

Nearly a decade ago, two meteorites were discovered in the Sahara Desert in Africa – NWA 7034 discovered in 2011 and NWA 7533 discovered in 2012, from which most Ouchi and colleagues obtained a sample for analysis.

The NWA stands for Northwest Africa, and the number is the official official endorsement of the Meteorological Society’s meteorological organization, an international planetary science organization.

Thanks to the comparison from the evidence collected by the lander on Mars, it is already known that both meteorites are from Mars.

To confirm the origin of NWA 7533 on Mars, comparisons were made from NASA’s Viking mission in the 1970s, which brought the first man – made instruments to the surface of the Red Planet.

Some of these meteorites are trapped gas that matches the atmosphere of Mars, as analyzed by NASA Viking, a Mars exploration mission.

The NWA 7533, also known as the ‘Black Beauty’ and the more famous NWA 7034 are all part of the same group, with at least 10 fragments, most ouchi say, all with different numbers.

“These meteorites on Mars have different but similar oxygen isotope ratios to other extraterrestrial objects, so we know they are from the same parent company,” he told MailOnline.

Image, Black Beauty, or NWA 7034. A 2013 study of a meteorite on Mars found it to be 2.1 billion years old and aquatic.

They all fall to Earth by the same event, but disintegrate at the time of entry into the atmosphere and scatter in the Sahara Desert.

‘Later people chose specifically, and the fragments got different names.’

In 2013, the NWA was 7034 It is 2.1 billion years old – The second oldest meteorite on Mars after NWA 7533.

Scientists say the cricket ball-sized meteorite contained more water than any other meteorite on Mars.

A portion of NWA 7034 was purchased by an American from a Moroccan meteorite dealer for the University of New Mexico.

The Bedouin tribe, who knew that rocks fetched good prices in the Casablanca market, have discovered many of today’s surviving Martian meteorites in the Sahara.

New study published in Scientific progress.