Mars rover finds evidence of water  Posted: Wednesday, March 03,
2004  WASHINGTON - Water percolating through the soil once
created a friendly environment that would have been ideal for
life to flourish on Mars, NASA scientists say.  It is not known
how long this environment lasted or if any organism actually
developed. But scientists directing robot rovers prowling the
Martian surface said Tuesday the evidence now is clear that some
rocks "were once soaked with liquid water."  "The ground would
have been suitable for life," said Steve Squyres of Cornell
University, the lead investigator for science instruments on the
rover Opportunity. "That doesn't mean life was there. We don't
know that."  Mars now is cold and dry and there is no apparent
evidence of life on its barren surface.  But Squyres said
chemical and geological clues gathered by Opportunity give
dramatic proof that at some time in its past, liquid water
coursed over the rocks and soils.  Such conditions on Earth,
Squyres said at a news conference,