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The first scoop of soil analyzed by the analytical suite in the belly of NASA's Curiosity rover reveals that fine materials on the surface of the planet contain several percent water by weight. The results were published today in Science as one article in a five-paper special section on the Curiosity mission.

"One of the most exciting results from this very first solid sample ingested by Curiosity is the high percentage of water in the soil," said Laurie Leshin, lead author of one paper and dean of the School Science at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. "About 2 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.

FULL ARTICLE: http://www.nasa.gov/content/goddard/.../#.UkY2Ucanpy1

Each cubic foot of Martian soil contains around two pints of liquid water, though the molecules are not freely accessible, but rather bound to other minerals in the soil.

FULL ARTICLE: http://www.theguardian.com/science/2...ars-soil-water

Water can also be found at the polar ice caps of Mars.  

I'm gonna move to Mars tomorrow. I got wifi so..  

maybe it's an expired version of Earth?  

Ya i heard about this, this is a huge breakthrough in my opinion.  

No thx.

I don't like Martian soil in my water .-.  

I need to buy some land on mars so when people start being sent there I can be rich.  

Posted by Zoologist

Ya i heard about this, this is a huge breakthrough in my opinion.

Water on Mars honestly isn't a very surprising thing. I'm pretty sure we've known this for a while. However, the link from NASA states nothing about liquid water, so I don't know if I want to take the Guardian link very seriously.  

Posted by Platinum

I need to buy some land on mars so when people start being sent there I can be rich.

The UN forbids any private ownership of extraterrestrial land.  

BTW, it's really Cold here on Mars. It's freezing.  

Posted by Talon

The UN forbids any private ownership of extraterrestrial land.

They forbid a lot of things, but that doesn't stop most nations from doing them. What're they gonna do, bomb Mars?  

Idk bout u guys but this is awesome. Nd i may be crazy lol but i think itd be cool to drink a glass of water from another planet. maybe be the first to drink mars water lol.  

Posted by Rotaruc

Idk bout u guys but this is awesome. Nd i may be crazy lol but i think itd be cool to drink a glass of water from another planet. maybe be the first to drink mars water lol.

Hope you've had a Tetanus shot.  

Posted by Talon

The UN forbids any private ownership of extraterrestrial land.

Who's gunna stop me frum goin to the moon an chopin eht merica flag dwn  

Posted by Dusty

Water on Mars honestly isn't a very surprising thing. I'm pretty sure we've known this for a while. However, the link from NASA states nothing about liquid water, so I don't know if I want to take the Guardian link very seriously.

I'm not sure how much I trust the guardian information either, but they aren't talking about liquid water, they're talking about how much could be "extracted" per square foot when the soil is heated. Whether it's that amount or not, this is significant because any future human visitors to Mars should be able to have a viable source of water anywhere on the planet, rather than just on the poles. It's also fairly certain that the soil all over the planet has the same properties, because of the continuous dust storms that are constantly mixing and moving it around.  

Posted by Kiwi

I'm not sure how much I trust the guardian information either, but they aren't talking about liquid water, they're talking about how much could be "extracted" per square foot when the soil is heated. Whether it's that amount or not, this is significant because any future human visitors to Mars should be able to have a viable source of water anywhere on the planet, rather than just on the poles. It's also fairly certain that the soil all over the planet has the same properties, because of the continuous dust storms that are constantly mixing and moving it around.

Each cubic foot of Martian soil contains around two pints of liquid water

Like I said, I don't think actually finding water on Mars was exactly big news. Finding water in the soil is, though... but I don't think it's exactly exciting for any sort of purpose of a source of water. Like it's been said, the polar caps themselves have been known to be water for a while, and they'd most likely provide way more water than extracting it from soil.

It's a bit cool to think of the implications though: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_cycle Then again, we've already known Mars has had flowing water as well... so ya...