Researchers just discovered evidence to suggest that Mars was once home to oceans and sandy beaches on the red planet, according to data published by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Data from China's Zhurong rover on Mars suggests an ancient ocean and strengthens evidence that the planet was once warm, wet, and habitable.

Mars wasn't always the dusty red desert we know today. Billions of years ago, waves may have crashed against sandy beaches under an alien sky, while rivers carried sediments into a vast northern ocean.