This is important and very good news. It's important because once again the chances increase that there was life on Mars in the past. And life similar to that which exists on Earth. This is good because the discovery of water on Mars means that people who go there (and they certainly will go someday) will have something to drink and something to bathe in.
2 percent means that in every kilogram of Martian soil, 20 ml of water can be found. And from one cubic meter, Lori Leshin, who led the study, estimates that about 30 liters can be obtained.
This is the best evidence for the existence of water on Mars. It was previously indicated by observations from the Phoenix spacecraft, which in 2008 spotted what was thought to be a vanishing chunk of ice. Phoenix also analyzed soil samples, finding traces of water there, but Curiosity's research is incomparably more accurate. This rover had already observed traces of pebble-stones lying in an already dried-up stream bed.
Curiosity took soil samples from Gale Crater and used the SAM (Sample Analysis at Mars) device to heat them in a helium atmosphere to 835 degrees Celsius. The chromatograph analyzed the released gases and identified carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, oxygen and water.
Gale Crater was chosen as a test site for, among other reasons, a good representation of most of the Martian surface from a geological point of view. Therefore, if there is water there, we can assume that it will be found throughout Mars.
The water results are part of a large report on the first 100 days of Curiosity's exploration, presented in the journal Science.
Now, you can imagine what the Red Planet looked like when it wasn't so red yet, about a billion years ago.
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