ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Mud cracks on Mars

Okay kiddo, have you ever played in the mud and seen it dry up in the sun? If you have, you might have noticed that the mud gets a little bit hard and forms cracks. Those cracks are called mud cracks, and they happen when the mud dries up and shrinks.

Now, NASA scientists have been looking at pictures of Mars, and they have noticed something really cool. Mars used to have water on its surface, just like we have water on Earth. But unlike Earth, Mars is much colder and drier, so when the water on Mars dried up, it left behind big patches of mud.

And just like on Earth, when that mud dried up it formed cracks, which NASA scientists call mud cracks too! But these mud cracks on Mars are really special because they tell us something important about the planet. They show us that Mars used to have water on its surface, and that the water dried up a long time ago.

So when the NASA scientists see these mud cracks on Mars through their special cameras and satellites, they get really excited. Because it means that there might have been life on Mars a long time ago when there was still water on the planet. Isn't that amazing?