Scientists have been wondering for generations if life was possible on Mars and now they may be one step closer towards finding out.
Water has been discovered in the fine-grained soil on the surface of the Red Planet, which could be useful for future human missions, according to measurements taken by NASA's Curiosity rover.
"One of the most exciting results from this very first solid sample ingested by Curiosity is the high percentage of water in the soil," study leader and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Dean of Science Laurie Leshin, said in a press statement. "About (two) percent of the soil on the surface of Mars is made up of water, which is a great resource, and interesting scientifically. The sample also released significant carbon dioxide, oxygen, and sulfur compounds when heated."
The Mars rover has been on the Red Planet since August 2012.
This week NASA scientists published five papers in the journal Science detailing the experiments carried out by Curiosity which used a number of different instruments.
Approximately 2 percent of Mars' soil, examined by Curiosity, by weight, was water, according to NASA.
Curiosity made the measurements by scooping up a sample of the Martian dirt underneath its wheels, sieving it and placing samples into an oven located in Curiosity's belly, an instrument called Sample Analysis at Mars.
"We heat (the soil) up to 835C and drive off all the volatiles and measure them," said Leshin. "We have a very sensitive way to sniff those and we can detect the water and other things that are released."
NASA now believes Mars once had flowing water, but it has now all but disappeared. The only sources of water found so far have been as ice found at the poles of the Red Planet.
"We tend to think of Mars as this dry place - to find water fairly easy to get out of the soil at the surface was exciting to me," said Leshin in the paper. "If you took about a cubic foot of the dirt and heated it up, you'd get a couple of pints of water out of that - a couple of water bottles' worth that you would take to the gym."
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