NASA revealed today liquid water has been found on the surface of Mars -- upending the perception of Mars as a completely arid, desert-like planet.
The finding also fuels speculation that life may have at one time thrived on Mars or could possibly even exist today.
A study published in the journal Nature Geoscience identified waterlogged molecules taken from readings from orbit.
“We now know Mars was once a planet very much like Earth with warm salty seas and fresh water lakes,” Jim Green, planetary science director at NASA, said at a news conference. “But something has happened to Mars, it lost its water.”
Dark, 100-meter-long streaks flowing downhill on Mars are believed to have been formed by contemporary flowing water, according to NASA. The findings come from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and raise the possibility there could be life -- or even microbes -- living inside the Red Planet.
Researchers said they don’t yet know where the briny water is coming from on Mars.
"Something is hydrating these salts, and it appears to be these streaks that come and go with the seasons," Lujendra Ojha, a researcher from Georgia Tech who worked on the paper, said in a statement. "This means the water on Mars is briny, rather than pure. It makes sense because salts lower the freezing point of water.”
Water on Mars, not just frozen. Is anything drinking it? Someday we wil find out on our #JourneyToMars http://t.co/ysbP8e2shY — John Grunsfeld (@SciAstro) September 28, 2015
While today’s discovery is huge, it is small compared to the rivers, lakes and vast oceans that are believed to have flowed on Mars billions of years ago. The findings, however, are a boon for a future human mission to Mars since the existence of water could help lighten astronauts' load.
“I think all of the scientific discoveries we’re making on the surface of Mars…these observations are giving us a much better view that Mars has resources that are useful to future travels," John Grunsfeld, NASA associate administrator, said at the news conference. "I think all of the scientific discoveries we’re making on the surface of Mars, these observations are giving us a much better view that Mars has resources that are useful to future travels."
Get real-time updates as this story unfolds. To start, just "star" this story in ABC News' phone app. Download ABC News for iPhone here or ABC News for Android here.
Mars from the , 1980. 
Warm season flows on slope in  
On Monday, NASA announced that signs of liquid water have been found on Mars. The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft found evidence of the liquid on the Martian surface, in long dark spots on the Red Planet thought to be formed because of water flow. 

In a news conference, NASA's  director,  said, "We now know Mars was once a planet very much like Earth with warm salty seas and fresh water lakes ... but something has happened to Mars, it lost its water."

Water is thought to flow down slopes in the warm summer months and dry up as the temperature drops seasonally. Scientists have different theories about the water's origin, as perhaps from the Martian atmosphere or from ice below the surface.

In 2011, Lujendra Ojha proposed the theory of water on the Martian surface, after studying salt samples from Martian soil. The temperature of Mars is close to the freezing point of water, but the presence of salt lowers the freezing point. Alfred McEwen, professor of  at the University of Arizona, described the water as "briny". Moreover, the  (RSL) on the surface of Mars are found to slide down the slope in the hotter season indicating the presence of water.

NASA's associate administrator John Grunsfeld said those observations gave a better picture about the planet's resources that could be helpful in the future. Grunsfeld tweeted ''Water on Mars, not just frozen. Is anything drinking it? Someday we wil find out on our #JourneyToMars''.

To mark this discovery, Google created a  in which Mars is sipping water.