Ancient Mars was warm and wet, not cold and icy

February 16, 2026

Here's something that really flips the script on what we thought about ancient Mars — it's not the icy wasteland many believed, but actually warm and wet. Gareth Dorrian from The Conversation reports that recent research suggests Mars had a more hospitable climate during the Noachian epoch, about 4.1 to 3.7 billion years ago. This was during a period called the Late Heavy Bombardment, when meteorite impacts were at their peak across the solar system. Now, here’s where it gets interesting — scientists found evidence that Mars could have supported liquid water and maybe even life, contrary to the cold, icy picture we've long held. According to Dorrian, this overturns some of our assumptions about Mars’ habitability. So what does this mean for future exploration? Well, if Mars was once warm and wet, the chances of finding past life shoot up. It’s a game-changer, and researchers are just getting started digging into what really happened on the Red Planet.

A recent study showed that Mars was warm and wet billions of years ago. The finding contrasts with another theory that this era was mainly cold and icy. The result has implications for the idea that life could have developed on the planet at this time.

Whether Mars was once habitable is a fascinating and intensely researched topic of interest over many decades. Mars, like the Earth, is about 4.5 billion years old and its geological history is divided into different epochs of time.

The latest paper relates to Mars during a time called the Noachian epoch, which extended from about 4.1 to 3.7 billion years ago. This was during a stage in solar system history called the Late Heavy Bombardment (LHB). Evidence for truly cataclysmic meteorite impacts during the LHB are found on many bodies throughout the solar system.

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