Orbiters could find ice on Mars for future human missions By Ashley Strickland, CNN enablePagination: false endIndex: (CNN) — Mars is too cold for liquid water to exist on its surface, but a wealth of ice may exist just beneath the surface in certain regions. Future human missions to Mars could use this ice as a resource and study it to learn about the planet's past. The Italian Space Agency, the Canadian Space Agency, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and NASA have announced they intend to develop a plan for a robotic Mars ice mapping mission. Together, the agencies will create a team that will work on the mission concept.