Space
Historic finding confirmed on Mars: NASA Curiosity rover reveals new evidence of water on red planet
The car-sized vehicle has been exploring Mars since 2012, uncovering the secrets of our planetary neighbour.

More than a decade on from the first steps, new evidence appears to confirm the theory that Mars once contained liquid water on the planet’s surface.
The findings are the result of the ongoing studies performed by NASA’s Curiosity rover, which has been scouring the red planet since landing in 2012. The latest breakthrough came as scientists were able to analyse ripples on Mars' surface that signified the presence of ancient lake beds.
The findings were written up in a study published in Science Advances, which estimates that the ripples were formed by liquid water acted upon by winds, likely around 3.7 billion years ago. The ripples are only around 6mm high, suggesting that the lake was shallow; less than 2m deep.
What do the new findings mean for life on Mars?
For years scientists have suspected that there was once water on Mars but this latest development is the clearest sign yet that the water was once in liquid form, leaving open the possibility that the planet could once support life. John Grotzinger, former project science for Curiosity’s mission, described the latest discovery as “an important advance” for researchers trying to understand the history of Mars' climate.
“We have been searching for these features since the Opportunity and Spirit landers began their missions in 2004,” Grotzinger said in a statement.
“Earlier missions, beginning with Opportunity in 2004, discovered ripples formed by water flowing across the surface of ancient Mars, but it was uncertain if that water ever pooled to form lakes or shallow seas.”
“The Curiosity rover discovered evidence for long-lived ancient lakes in 2014, and now 10 years later Curiosity has discovered ancient lakes that were free of ice, offering an important insight into the planet’s early climate.”
The planet’s climate has changed dramatically over the course of its life and may once have had a much denser, warmer atmosphere than we see today. That, combined with a greater understanding of surface water, hints at a much more varied history of the red planet.
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