Conclusion

Now that you have completed the course, you should be able to:

• understand the history of Mars and the role of its environment on the presence of water over time
• describe the methods used to find water on Mars, including the techniques employed by robotic and orbiting spacecraft
• evaluate the evidence for water on Mars
• describe the different settings in which water has been in Mars’ past and today
• understand the implications of finding water on the possibility of finding life.

There is much more to learn about Mars and its potential for life, and the story of the search for water is only one part of that. If you’d like to learn more, you could take a look at the following resources:

• Astrobiology hub on OpenLearn [Tip: hold Ctrl and click a link to open it in a new tab. (Hide tip)]
• The Mars collection on OpenLearn
• The latest from NASA’s Perserverance rover
• ESA’s ExoMars programme updates
• Results from UAE’s Hope probe