Scientists claim that the two-billion-year-old rock from Mars, which fell to Earth and was found in the Sahara, is different from other meteorites from the red planet.
They report that the baseball-sized rock found in the Sahara is older than most and contains much more water, they reported in the journal Science.
The researchers point out that the stone is similar to volcanic rocks, which NASA probes "Spirit" and "Opportunity" studied on the surface of Mars.
The researchers conducted a series of tests to determine its origin and age
As reported by AP, so far about 65 meteorites originating from Mars have been found on Earth, mostly in Antarctica and in the Sahara desert.
The oldest is 4,5 billion years old, while the age of the others is estimated at 1,3 billion years or less.
The latest stone was donated to the University of New Mexico by an American who bought it last year from a meteorite dealer.
The researchers conducted a series of tests to determine its origin and age.
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