Red planet, Mars, always a center of fascinations and theories. It was already proved that the planet embodies water in its ground and it is believed that there’re various chances that species might have existed. Now, a new evidence was found by the Curiosity Rover on the Gale crater on Mars.

The rover suggests that there may have been water present on the red planet longer than previously thought, it earlier revealed the Gale crater, situated south of the Martian equator and believed to be about 3.8 billion years old, was once likely an enormous lake that stretched for miles.

Jens Frydenvang, a scientist at Los Alamos National Laboratory and the University of Copenhagen and lead author of the new study was quoted saying “with water that we would even have been able to drink.”

Meanwhile, this new data hints the crater not only held water but that it was retained in the ground for much longer than previously believed, the rover picked up data from lighter-toned bedrock in the crater that surrounds fractures and comprises high concentrations of silica called “halos”. These deposits likely came from deeper deposits of rock that were carried to the surface by sweeping flows of groundwater indicating a much longer presence of the liquid on the planet beneath its surface beds.

“The concentration of silica is very high at the centerlines of these halos,” said Frydenvang.

Another question was raised right next to the water theory, was there ever life on Mars? Nasa has previously said that there may have been life on the red planet after analyzing the geological collections by the Rover, but this finding suggests the period of life, if there was one, may have existed for much longer than what was assumed long back.

“Even when the lake eventually evaporated, substantial amounts of groundwater were present for much longer than we previously thought—thus further expanding the window for when life might have existed on Mars,” Frydenvang concluded.

Giant parties like NASA and SpaceX have already chalked out Mars missions for the future, including manned ones with Elon Musk hinting at colonization of the red planet. Geological and Atmospheric evidence along with a suitable distance from Earth makes Mars the most preferred planet among the scientific community for exploration aspects.