Yes, there is water on Mars, but it primarily exists in the form of ice. The presence of water ice on Mars has been confirmed by multiple spacecraft and rovers, including the Mars Phoenix lander and the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. These missions have provided evidence of water ice in various regions, including polar ice caps, glaciers, and subsurface ice deposits.
The reason why Mars' water doesn't look like Earth's water or the Moon's water is primarily due to the differences in atmospheric pressure and temperature. Mars has a thin atmosphere compared to Earth, with an average surface pressure less than 1% of Earth's atmospheric pressure. The low atmospheric pressure on Mars causes the water ice to undergo a process called sublimation, where it transitions directly from a solid to a gas without becoming a liquid. This means that on Mars, water ice can turn into water vapor without melting into liquid water first.
Additionally, the temperatures on Mars are generally much colder than on Earth or even the Moon. The average temperature on Mars is around -80 degrees Fahrenheit (-60 degrees Celsius), which is well below the freezing point of water. These extremely cold temperatures further contribute to the preservation of water ice on the planet's surface.
In contrast, on Earth, our planet's thicker atmosphere and higher average temperatures allow liquid water to exist in abundance. On the Moon, which also has a thin atmosphere, water ice can be found in permanently shadowed craters near the lunar poles where temperatures are consistently low enough for the ice to remain stable.
Overall, the differences in atmospheric pressure and temperature on Mars compared to Earth and the Moon play a significant role in the appearance and behavior of water on each celestial body.