Mars was once warm enough for rain increasing odds it supported alien life

Mars was once warm enough to have rainstorms and rivers – increasing the odds that the planet supported alien life, scientists say.

Experts knew that there was water on Mars, which is needed for life, but theorised the climate was too cold for freshwater lakes, flowing rivers and streams.

A team analysed data about Martian minerals collected by the orbiting NASA CRISM spectrometer and the Mars Curiosity Rover.

It found the planet had periods of temperate weather for much longer than previously thought.

This created conditions that could have enabled alien microbes to evolve three to four billion years ago – around the same time life started on Earth.

Experts knew that there was water on Mars, which is needed for life, but theorised the climate was too cold for freshwater lakes, flowing rivers and streams (Getty)

A NASA mission in 2020 will hunt for more clues to ancient alien life (NASA / SWNS)

Prof Briony Horgan, of Purdue University in Indiana, US, led the research. She said: “Flowing water is essential for life’s development.

So evidence we had early, flowing water on Mars will increase the chances simple life may have developed at around the time it did on Earth.”

A NASA mission in 2020 will hunt for more clues to ancient alien life.