The official press reported today that a study conducted by Chinese scientists based on the data collected by the probe that the country placed on the surface of Mars, provided new evidence for the presence of water on the Red Planet.
The rover, dubbed Zhurong, has sent data on the properties of sediments and minerals in the southern part of the vast plain known as Utopia Planitia, located in the northern half of the planet Mars. According to the findings of the National Aerospace Science Center of China, there are “wet minerals that can be explored during future manned missions to Mars.”
The study, published in Science Advances, revealed the presence of liquid water during the Amazon era – the most recent geological epoch on Mars – in a large impact basin, adding to other evidence suggesting that the presence of this substance “persistent”. much longer than previously thought.”
The study indicated that there is a possibility that this site stores water in the form of wet minerals and surface ice.
China already published other research in March indicating that the area where the Zhurong spacecraft landed in May 2021 may have been eroded by wind or water in the past.
The rover is part of the Tianwen-1 mission, which also includes an orbiting spacecraft and a lander. Tianwen-1 is China’s first exploration mission to Mars and aims to find more evidence of water or ice on the planet, as well as conduct research on the surface’s physical makeup or climate characteristics.
