Pools of water once existed on Mars MSNBC

Three weeks after reporting that the Opportunity rover’s landing site on Mars was once wet, scientists went even further on Tuesday, declaring that the now-barren rocks were formed at the bottom of an ancient body of saltwater. The findings, announced at a NASA news briefing in Washington, represent an important link in a chain of evidence hinting that the Red Planet was wet enough and warm enough for a long enough time to support the development of life. Moreover, if organisms ever did arise, their fossils should still exist within Martian rock, the scientists said.