Photos of the rocky surface of Mars taken by the Curiosity rover and sent back in April 2022 show that water has existed on this planet about 3.7 billion years ago. The red planet ran out of water about 3 billion years ago. Thus, the time Mars has had water is longer than previous discoveries.

Although scientists have found evidence for the presence of water on Mars, they are uncertain about whether it exists as liquid, ice or pressurized brine.

Curiosity spacecraft (Photo: NASA)

Sharing the same opinion, Dr. Steven Banham (Department of Earth Science and Engineering, Imperial College London) said: “The sandstone reveals that water may have existed in abundance here and even longer than we previously thought. The question is, what clues did water leave behind about the processes that existed on Mars? It could be compressed liquid, forced into and deforming sediments , or cryogenic, with repeated freezing and thawing causing deformation; may also be saltwater and subject to large temperature fluctuations”.

Satellite image of the surface of Mars (Photo: SWNS)

According to the researchers, life may have developed on Mars at the same time as on Earth, but while environmental conditions continued to be favorable for life on Earth, conditions on Mars worsened.

Curiosity is expected to continue operating for several more years and reveal more secrets of Mars.