Scientists have used orbiters and rovers to find dried streams, lakes, and gullies on Mars that hint at its watery past, but their cavalry of robots has struggled to prove the Red Planet ever had an actual ocean.

Mars once featured sun-soaked, sandy beaches with gentle, lapping waves from an ancient ocean, a new study suggests. Why it matters: The research marks the "clearest evidence yet" that the Red Planet once contained a major body of water and a more livable environment for life,

Mars may have once been a paradise with Earth-like oceans and balmy beaches that would have been ideal for harboring living organisms, according to a new study. An international team of researchers based at Penn State University has examined data from the layers of soil that comprise the Red Planet’s surface — discovering formations that strongly indicate the presence of an ancient body of water that could have been an idyllic getaway