h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I have just seen the new images from Mars Global Surveyor ,orbiting Mars and they are very interesting.
It seems that there is liquid water on Mars,flowing about 300 metres bellow the surface.This water appears to burst out from the walls of some craters and flow down gullies towards the crater floor.It may be that it then turns to ice,or maybe evaporates away.This is fantastic news ,as it changes our view of Mars completly and paves the way to manned bases on this new world.It seems that the water is traped bellow the surface by a layer of very hard rock and thus is protected from evaporation.It greatly increases the chance of finding life on Mars.