Analysis of a Martian meteorite recently revealed evidence of the history of water movement in Mars, restarting arguments that the Red Planet was once habitable, according to a NASA press release.
Scientists from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and Johnson Space Center in Houston led by Everett Gibson, Kathie Thomas-Keprta, and David McKay, recently studied a rock that was first discovered on the Yamato Glacier in Antarctica back in 2000 during the Japanese Antarctic Research Expedition
Researchers now believe the rock, named Yamato 000593, which formed from lava flow on Mars some 1.3 billion years ago, emitted from the surface of the Red Planet when an impact occurred 12 million years ago.
After being ejected, it journeyed through space before landing in Antarctica around 50,000 years ago, according to NASA.
The rock's silicate minerals contain oxygen atoms and trapped atmospheric gases, confirming it is a Martian Meteorite.
Analyses showed two distinctive sets of features that consists of "nanometer-micrometer-sized spherules" that sit between layers in the rock, and the structure of the tunnel and micro-tunnel.
These structures suggest the existence of biological processes on the Red Planet.
"The unique features displayed within the Martian meteorite Yamato 000593 are evidence of aqueous alterations as seen in the clay minerals and the presence of carbonaceous matter associated with the clay phases which show that Mars has been a very active body in its past," said Gibson in the press release. "The planet is revealing the presence of an active water reservoir that may also have a significant carbon component."
The study was published in a recent issue of Astrobiology.
"The small sizes of the carbonaceous features within the Yamato 000593 meteorite present major challenges to any analyses attempted by remote techniques on Mars," Gibson added.
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