Trapped Mars Rover Finds Signs of Buried Martian Water in Recent Past

This mosaic of images shows the dirt in front of NASA's Mars rover Spirit, after the rover got stuck and made a series of short drives to try to extricate itself in January and February 2010. Spirit analyzed the dirt, finding evidence that water trickled through it in the relatively recent past. (Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Cornell University)

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Michael Wall is a Senior Space Writer with Space.com (opens in new tab) and joined the team in 2010. He primarily covers exoplanets, spaceflight and military space, but has been known to dabble in the space art beat. His book about the search for alien life, "Out There," was published on Nov. 13, 2018. Before becoming a science writer, Michael worked as a herpetologist and wildlife biologist. He has a Ph.D. in evolutionary biology from the University of Sydney, Australia, a bachelor's degree from the University of Arizona, and a graduate certificate in science writing from the University of California, Santa Cruz. To find out what his latest project is, you can follow Michael on Twitter.