Utopia Planitia is a large plain within Utopia, the largest recognized impact basin on Mars and in the Solar System with an estimated diameter of 3,300 km. It is the Martian region where the Viking 2
Frosted terrain on Utopia Planitia, taken by the Viking 2 lander in 1979
Sojourner on Mars PIA01122
Although very small amounts of liquid water may occur transiently on the surface of Mars, limited to traces of dissolved moisture from the atmosphere and thin films, large quantities of ice are presen
Utopia Planitia
…that look like pingos on the Earth are found in Utopia Planitia (~35–50° N; ~80–115° E). On November 22, 2016, NASA reported finding a large amount of underground ice in the Utopia Planitia region. The volume of water detected has been estimated to be equivalent to the volume of water in Lake Superior. In 2026…
Mars contains water, though mostly as subsurface permafrost. Surface water is readily visible at some places, such as the ice-filled Korolev Crater, near the north polar ice cap.
Mars canals illustrated by astronomer Percival Lowell, 1898.
History of water on Mars. Numbers represent how many billions of years ago.