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Why are we exploring Mars?

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What tools and techniques does NASA use to explore Mars?

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NASA is committed to exploring Mars.

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In fact, they will be sending a robot to Mars once every two years for the next decade.

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Mars is very interesting because not only is it right next door,

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but it's the planet with the most hospitable climate in the solar system.

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So hospitable, in fact, that it may once have been the home to primitive bacteria-like life.

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These pictures show dried up river and lake beds,

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and so we know that liquid water flowed on the surface billions of years ago.

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So where has all the water gone?

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Has it just floated off into space?

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Scientists think that a lot of the water may be chemically bound to the soil,

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or underneath the surface in either liquid or ice form.

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Understanding where the water currently is can help us understand the history of water on Mars,

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which is important in determining if there is or ever was life on that planet.