A recent flyby of Mercury by the BepiColombo spacecraft, a joint mission by the European Space Agency and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, has led experts to believe that frozen water may exist on the planet’s surface.

The spacecraft examined deep craters near Mercury’s north pole, revealing dark, shadowed areas that could contain frozen water.

These cold spots, some of the coldest in the Solar System, will be further studied, the New York Post has reported.

BepiColombo’s mission, launched in 2018, aims to return to Mercury in 2026, where it will collect data for a year starting in 2027.

Written by B.C. Begley