Scientists say they have found huge deposits of ice on the south pole of Mars that are so plentiful they would blanket the planet in 11 metres of water if they were liquid.
The deposits are up to 3.7 kilometres thick and cover an area larger than Texas.
The scientists used a joint NASA-Italian Space Agency radar instrument on the European Space Agency (ESA) Mars Express spacecraft to gauge the thickness and volume of the ice deposits.
The deposits are under a polar cap of white frozen carbon dioxide and water.
They appear to be composed of at least 90 per cent frozen water with dust mixed in.
The findings have been published in the
Science journal.
Scientists have known water exists in frozen form at the Martian poles but this research has produced the most accurate measurements of just how much there is.
They are eager to learn about the history of water on Mars because water is fundamental to the question of whether the planet has ever harboured life.
Liquid water is a necessity for life as we know it.
Characteristics like channels on the Martian surface strongly suggest the planet was once very wet, in contrast to its present arid, dusty condition.
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