Space. The place that seems to capture everyone's imaginations. There have been countless movies based around the idea of aliens, on getting lost in the never ending universe and being forever unable to return home. The idea of the black abyss both captivates and terrifies us as humans. And now, after years of speculation that there was once life on the planet Mars, proof has been found that water once ran on it's surface.

On Sept. 28, NASA confirmed that liquid water was once present on Mars. Scientists recently discovered perchlorates, salt-like waterlogged molecules, via readings from orbit. Professor of planetary geology at the University of Arizona, Alfred S. McEwen, stated that the perchlorates are a "direct detention of water in the forms of salts," which means that at one point in time, most likely recently, water had to have existed on Mars' surface in order to produce these molecules.

Along with the perchlorates, Professor McEwen and his colleagues also noted photographs of Mars' surface which depicted canyons, craters, and mountains covered in dark streaks which appeared and disappeared with changing "seasons," found in 2011. They made an educated guess that these streaks are the result of water darkening Mars' surface when wet an lightening when dry.

Though there is still much more research to be done on this phenomenon, it's hard to ignore the fact that there was indeed liquid on another planet's surface at some point in time. So what does this mean? Are there other lifeforms existing outside of Earth's surface? Is there a chance for life on another planet? Only time will tell.