A 1.27-billion-year-old Martian rock, from a face of the Red Planet never sampled before

Boston College scientists have determined that a newly discovered meteorite from Mars is 1.27 billion years old. The analysis indicates it derives from a previously unsampled, pristine source on the Red Planet.

Martian meteorites are the principal way of studying material from the planet directly ahead of sample-return missions. Each new source region opens an independent window onto the planet's geological history.

A separate study published over the same period showed that rover data collected more than twenty years ago carries clues to the existence of liquid water on ancient Mars.

MHA Analysis

While the timetable for sample-return missions remains uncertain, meteorites continue to be the only way to study Martian material directly — and every new source region adds an independent data point to the planet's geological map. That a 1.27-billion-year-old specimen comes from a previously unsampled region is also a reminder of how narrow a window the existing collection of Martian rocks provides. That does not weaken the scientific case for sample return; it strengthens it.