It’s the ol’ gaussian curve meme:

1. Mars is a ball covered in rust
2. Nooo, Mars is a planet covered in dust storms
3. Mars is a ball covered in rust

Did you read the article? We know it’s rust, but there are many forms of iron oxide that form in different conditions.

Previous studies of the iron oxide component of the martian dust based on spacecraft observations alone did not find evidence of water contained within it. Researchers had therefore concluded that this particular type of iron oxide must be hematite, formed under dry surface conditions through reactions with the martian atmosphere over billions of years – after Mars’s early wet period.

However, new analysis of spacecraft observations in combination with novel laboratory techniques shows that Mars’s red colour is better matched by iron oxides containing water, known as ferrihydrite.