Craters Reveal Mars Water Ran Deep

By studying rocks blasted out of impact craters, ESA’s Mars Express has found evidence that underground water persisted at depth for prolonged periods during the first billion years of the Red Planet’s existence. Understanding the history of water on Mars will help scientists understand if the planet once supported environments suitable for life.

Impact craters are natural windows into the history of planetary surfaces -- the deeper the crater, the further back in time you can probe.

In addition, rocks blasted out during the impact offer a chance to study material that once lay hidden beneath the surface.

In a new study, ESA’s Mars Express and NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter zoomed in on craters in a 1000 x 2000 km region of the ancient southern highlands, called Tyrrhena Terra, to learn more about the history of water in this region.