Nasa Goddard scientists in Hawaii studied past water on Mars . They found that 3.7 billion years ago it had more than the Arctic Ocean . Most of this would have been in the northern hemisphere of the planet . Since then , 87 % has been lost to space and the rest is in ice at the poles . But the scientists now know Mars was wet for more than 1.5 billion years . This is 'longer than the period of time needed for life to develop on Earth '
Nasa Goddard scientists in Maryland studied past water on Mars . They found that 3.7 billion years ago it had more than the Arctic Ocean . Most of this would have been in the northern hemisphere of the planet . Since then , 87 % has been lost to space and the rest is in ice at the poles . But the scientists now know Mars was wet for more than 1.5 billion years . This is 'longer than the period of time needed for life to develop on Earth '