WIRED Staff
Science

Slideshow: Mars Rover's Day at the Beach

NASA scientists believe data sent back from the Opportunity Mars rover indicates a vast ocean once existed where the rover now sits. The next step for NASA: determining whether there was ever life in that ocean. By Amit Asaravala.
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The ripples discovered in martian rocks by the Opportunity rover resemble patterns found in rocks on Earth, leading scientists to believe that some parts of Mars were once submerged in water.Courtesy of NASA/JPL/Cornell

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NASA scientists believe an ocean of water may have once existed near this crater on Mars, where the agency's Opportunity rover landed in January.

Courtesy of NASA/JPL/Cornell