If the stories about water on Mars were as true as some people wish, we would already be voyaging there to meet the modern Martians.

The trouble is, if you put your faith in a confidence trick, you will have your heart broken and your finances plundered.

"Water on Mars" is a scam. It is so strong a dream that it has even seduced many of its proponents.

Unfortunately, Mars IS drier than the Sahara desert and has been so for 3.5 Billion years. It IS colder (on average) than Antarctica, and has been so for 3.5 billion years.

Before we chase across the solar system in pursuit of some elusive goal, let us make sure that there are not alternative explanations for the features we see on Mars that do NOT involve liquid oceans, abundant surface water, Earth-Like atmospheres, and mild climates. In the next decade, the pendulum is likely to swing further away from a warm and wet Mars. There are many scientifically silly things said about water on mars. Few of them stand up to rigorous examination.

it is undeniable that vast floods of some fluid have flowed across mars surface in the past, but there is no absolute requirement for these to have been water. Battery Acid is a more likely fluid. CO2 is a possibility. Whatever the fluid, it does not make the surface of Mars warm or wet.

If you know your Indiana Jones movies, when selecting a vessel to drink from, you should choose wisely. Do not choose the most superficially attractive one...