--- title: NASA: New Data Shows Ancient Lakes on Mars description: Lakes are believed to have existed between 3.8 and 3.3 billion years ago canonical: https://time.com/4067405/mars-lakes-water-nasa/ author: Maya Rhodan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-10-08T22:31:03.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:57:31.547Z article:section: Science og:title: Mars Once Had Lakes, New Data Confirms og:description: Lakes are believed to have existed between 3.8 and 3.3 billion years ago og:url: https://time.com/4067405/mars-lakes-water-nasa/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf9044ffeb85c0f7d/6988678da988ca6efd6b4bc0/pia19839-galecrater-main.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2016 og:image:height: 1134 og:image:alt: pia19839-galecrater-main og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Mars Once Had Lakes, New Data Confirms twitter:description: Lakes are believed to have existed between 3.8 and 3.3 billion years ago twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf9044ffeb85c0f7d/6988678da988ca6efd6b4bc0/pia19839-galecrater-main.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Mars Once Had Lakes, New Data Confirms > Sponsored content. 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It reaches 40,000 subscribers with a 34.2% open rate and a 2.1% click rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I follow the energy transition as a business story? Future Proof covers climate and energy as an economic and business story rather than only an environmental one. It publishes every Friday and is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Who writes Future Proof? Justin Worland, a senior correspondent at TIME and an award-winning climate journalist, writes Future Proof. #### Is Future Proof free? Yes. Future Proof is free at time.com/newsletters. ## Video: TIME Explains: Mars, with Jeffrey Kluger [Watch (HLS stream): TIME Explains: Mars, with Jeffrey Kluger](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/5wSa3koN.m3u8) (3:29)  _Published 2012-09-18. In this first episode of a new series, 'TIME Explains,' science editor Jeffrey Kluger tells us why we're spending so much time and money exploring the red planet_ by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Oct 8, 2015 10:31 PM UTC  This image released on Oct. 8, 2015 shows a view from the "Kimberley" formation on Mars taken by NASA's Curiosity rover. The strata in the foreground dip towards the base of Mount Sharp, indicating flow of water toward a basin that existed before the larger bulk of the mountain formed. This image released on Oct. 8, 2015 shows a view from the "Kimberley" formation on Mars taken by NASA's Curiosity rover. The strata in the foreground dip towards the base of Mount Sharp, indicating flow of water toward a basin that existed before the larger bulk of the mountain formed. NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Oct 8, 2015 10:31 PM UTC Mars was once able store water in lakes for lengthy spans of time, the nation’s space agency announced on Thursday. New data from [NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory](http://www.nasa.gov/feature/jpl/nasas-curiosity-rover-team-confirms-ancient-lakes-on-mars) and the Curiosity rover shows a series of lakes and streams once existed on Mars billions of years ago near where Curiosity landed. Those bodies of water are believed to have carried sediment that would later form the foundation of Mars’ [Mount Sharp](http://mars.nasa.gov/msl/news/whatsnew/index.cfm?FuseAction=ShowNews&NewsID=1705). The lakes are believed to have formed between 3.8 and 3.3 billion years ago, NASA says. The data follows last month’s news that evidence suggests water [currently exists on the Red Planet](http://time.com/4051985/mars-water-nasa-announcement/). “What we thought we knew about water on Mars is constantly being put to the test,” said Michael Meyer, lead scientist for NASA’s Mars Exploration Program, in a post on the agency’s [website](http://www.nasa.gov/feature/jpl/nasas-curiosity-rover-team-confirms-ancient-lakes-on-mars). “It’s clear that the Mars of billions of years ago more closely resembled Earth than it does today. Our challenge is to figure out how this more clement Mars was even possible, and what happened to that wetter Mars.” The Curiosity Rover landed on Mars in 2012. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4067405/mars-lakes-water-nasa/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4067405/mars-lakes-water-nasa/"},"headline":"Mars Once Had Lakes, New Data Confirms","datePublished":"2015-10-08T22:31:03.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:57:31.547Z","description":"Lakes are believed to have existed between 3.8 and 3.3 billion years ago","url":"https://time.com/4067405/mars-lakes-water-nasa/","keywords":["Space","Mars"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf9044ffeb85c0f7d/6988678da988ca6efd6b4bc0/pia19839-galecrater-main.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Maya Rhodan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf9044ffeb85c0f7d/6988678da988ca6efd6b4bc0/pia19839-galecrater-main.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"pia19839-galecrater-main","caption":"This image released on Oct. 8, 2015 shows a view from the \"Kimberley\" formation on Mars taken by NASA's Curiosity rover. 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