The Zhurong rover, which is now trundling across the surface of Mars, has discovered proof of two massive floods that formed the Utopia Planitia region of the planet. Using its radar imager, the probe peered beneath the surface to learn more about the planet’s geology and hydrological history.
The rover, which has travelled around 1.9 kilometres on the planet, has yielded new findings from its science missions, according to the China National Space Administration. Chinese researchers presented their new discoveries from the smooth plains of the volcanic and sedimentary zones in an article that appeared in Nature.
The Tianwen-1 mission’s main piece is the rover, which lies in the vast plain region inside the solar system’s largest known impact basin.
It confirmed the existence of hydrated materials that might be used by upcoming crewed missions launched by Earth in May of this year and discovered additional evidence of water on the planet, suggesting liquid flowing on the surface in the distant past.
Researchers wrote in their report that subsurface stratification on Mars ‘preserves essential information to comprehend the geological evolution, the hydrological cycle.’
The southern fringe region of Utopia Planitia was the site of a ground-penetrating radar study of the Martian subsurface by the rover. Utopia Planitia, which also served as the landing site for NASA’s Viking-2 mission, is being explored by the rover.
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