Mars more recently than previously thought, which has implications on both our understanding of the Red Planet's habitability and future exploration missions.  RELATED STORIES:NASA rover snaps photos of ancient 'waves' carved into Mars mountainsideNew evidence for liquid water on Mars suggests the planet is geothermally activeThe big reveal: What's ahead in returning samples from Mars?extract water ice from the ground has been pushing mission planners to consider higher latitude sites. "presented (opens in new tab) at the 54th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference held in The Woodlands, Texas, on March 15