Gill Bates says, "Water is a good choice because it is so important to life on our planet. However, today Mars is a very dry place. You won't find any lakes, rivers, or oceans. But you may find ice. According to NASA scientists, theoretical calculations show that ground ice on Mars (ice buried in the soil) canexist very close to the surface only at high latitudes. Near the equator, ground ice can only survive if it is somehow isolated by an impervious rock layer to prevent it gradually turning to vapor and being lost to the atmosphere. Most of the ice at the poles is actually frozen Carbon Dioxide, not frozen water -- yet the poles may be your best bet for finding water ice. If you were to dig down through the ground at a particular location, the temperature will increase, as it does on the Earth, because the interior of the planet is hot. At a certain depth, called the melting isotherm depth, the temperature will exceed 0 deg C, the freezing point of water. Below this depth, liquid ground water could theoretically exist." Gill says, "too bad we don't have a drill!"

Now it's time to pick a place to land!
 

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