Meteorite found in the Sahara shows what Mars was like 4.1 billion years ago

CTV News · CNN Staff · 2026-11-06 14:17 UTC

Teghaza 001, a meteorite found in 2022 in West Africa, could reveal clues about the earliest history of Mars.

Scientists have identified one of the oldest Martian rocks ever found on Earth — and it’s revealing new clues about the red planet’s earliest history, including evidence that water altered its crust at least 4.1 billion years ago.

The rose-coloured meteorite, known as Teghaza 001, has a unique chemical composition that sets it apart from previously studied samples from Mars, scientists say.

“This is a very rare, ancient Martian meteorite, and it gives us a chance to look at the early crust and mantle of Mars, at a time when life was just starting on Earth,” said Yang Liu, a planetary scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., and lead author of a study on the sample published Oct. 29 in the journal Science.

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