Report request: I am a writer for a newsletter that reports on space exploration, with a particular focus on colonization of other planets.  I am presently working on a series of articles on the colonization of Mars from the perspective of "living off the land."
I need a report about what is known about the presence of water ice on Mars that could be used to produce drinkable water. This includes both information about where the ice is, how it might be mined, and what kinds of processing would be needed to make it drinkable.  Because my focus for this article will be on drinkable water I am interested only in water ice, and not in other forms of ice such as salt water. I need to explain to our readers how we know that this ice actually exists, so I am interested in both what evidence we have for its presence and how confident we are in our interpretation of that evidence.

Assessment questions and gold answers:
question_text: Which spacecraft were used to obtain information on water on Mars?
gold_answers: Mars Rover Curiosity
question_text: Which spacecraft were used to obtain information on water on Mars?
gold_answers: Mars Rover Opportunity
question_text: Which spacecraft were used to obtain information on water on Mars?
gold_answers: Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter
question_text: What led scientists to infer the existence of water on Mars?
gold_answers: Erosion in rocky ledges
question_text: What areas on Mars seem to be promising for extracting water ice?
gold_answers: Arcadia
question_text: What areas on Mars seem to be promising for extracting water ice?
gold_answers: Locations in the mid latitudes
question_text: What can be obtained by processing the water found on Mars?
gold_answers: Oxygen
question_text: What can be obtained by processing the water found on Mars?
gold_answers: Rocket fuel
question_text: In which layer Is there typically no water?
gold_answers: thin layer under the Martian surface
question_text: How thick is the layer of water under the Martian surface?
gold_answers: Relatively thick
question_text: How deep below the surface of Mars are some of the ice deposits?
gold_answers: A few meters
question_text: How thick might the Martian ice layer be?
gold_answers: As much as 90 meters
question_text: What would be the easiest way for an astronaut to obtain water on Mars?
gold_answers: By digging into the ground
question_text: Which areas would be favorable for astronauts to land on Mars?
gold_answers: Arcadia lowland region