According to a new study in this week's issue of Sciences Advances, China's Mars rover has found evidence based on fundamental observations that liquid water is present in the hottest regions of the planet at low latitudes.
Previous research has found evidence of a large amount of liquid water, but climate changes are causing very low pressure, making it difficult for liquid water to be permanently present on the planet at this time. Scientists thought that water could only be found in solid or gaseous form in these regions.
Droplets previously observed on the robotic arm of NASA's Mars rover proved that salty liquid water can appear in summer at high latitudes on Mars. Digital simulations also supported the view that certain climatic conditions on Mars could cause liquid water to appear for short periods of time. However, there was no evidence that liquid water could exist at low latitudes, where surface temperatures are high. Zhurong's findings fill this gap.
As part of China's Tianwen-1 Mars exploration mission, Zhurong continues to send data from Mars' northern hemisphere. The vehicle, which landed on the wide Utopia Planitia plain on May 15, 2021, traveled about 2 kilometers and sent a series of data to the earth. More than 20 researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences continue to examine the data sent with cameras and detectors. The mineralogical structure of the investigated dunes was analyzed in detail. The researchers found that the dunes Zhurong found were formed between 400 and 1,4 million years ago.
Source: China International Radio