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 might have once had sandy beaches and a vast ocean. Chinese scientists discovered that about 3.6 billion years ago, rivers, beaches, and an ocean covered nearly half of the Red Planet.