Data from China's Zhurong rover on Mars suggests an ancient ocean and strengthens evidence that the planet was once warm, wet, and habitable.

“We’re finding places on Mars that used to look like ancient beaches and ancient river deltas,” said Dr Benjamin Cardenas of Penn State University in a statement. “We found evidence for wind, waves, no shortage of sand — a proper, vacation-style beach.”

China’s Zhurong rover used ground-penetrating radar to find signs of beaches beneath Mars’ surface, adding evidence to the idea the planet hosted an ancient ocean.

It seems that Mars once had beaches that would give the Californian coast a run for its money. An international team of researchers has revealed evidence of bygone “ vacation-style ” sandy beaches on Mars: underground rock layers that testify to an ancient northern ocean with gently lapping waves,