The BBC recently reported: "A giant patch of frozen water has been pictured nestled within an unnamed impact crater on Mars. The photographs were taken by the High Resolution Stereo Camera on board Mars Express, the European Space Agency probe which is exploring the planet. The ice disc is located on Vastitas Borealis, a broad plain that covers much of Mars' far northern latitudes. The existence of water on Mars raises the prospect that past or present life will one day be detected."