NATIONWIDE -- Scientists say they've found what appears to be an underground lake on Mars, marking the first time water has been found on the planet, they reported Wednesday.
- Scientists have found evidence of underground lake on Mars
- It would be the 1st time water has been found on red planet
- Discovery increases possibility that there's life on Mars
The discovery raises the possibility that life could be found there.
Scott Hubbard, a Stanford University professor who was also NASA's first Mars program director in 2000, called the discovery "tremendously exciting," the Associated Press said.
The study, published in the journal Science, was based on three years worth of radar signals from the European Space Agency's Mars Express spacecraft.
The data suggests a 12-mile-wide saltwater reservoir below ice near the planet's south pole. The researchers spent two years poring over the data to ensure that what they were detecting was water and not ice or something else, AP reported.
Kirsten Siebach, a Rice University researcher who wasn't part of the study, told AP that the extreme cold and salinity aren't ideal conditions for life, but microbes have adapted to similar conditions on Earth.
In May, NASA launched the InSight lander, which will explore the red planet and dig under its surface. It's expected to get there in November.
Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.