2023-05-08 06:37:33
At first glance, the surface of Mars looks pretty desolate. The soil is many times as dry as Earth’s dry desert, the temperature fluctuates from one extreme to the other, and the air is incredibly thin and smoky.
However, there is plenty of evidence that the planet was once much hotter and wetter, with plenty of flowing and stagnant water on its surface. Over time, as Mars’ atmosphere was slowly stripped away, much of this water was lost to space, and what remains is mostly concentrated around the poles as glacial ice and permafrost.
Over the years, space agencies have sent robotic landers, rovers, orbiters, and rovers to Mars to learn more about when and how long this transition will occur. According to China’s Tianwen-1 mission, which includes the Zhurong rover, liquid water may have been present on Mars much later than previously thought.
According to new research Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), the Zhurong rover found salt dunes in Utopia Planitia that showed cracks and crusts, indicating the presence of water a few hundred thousand years ago.
The research team was co-led by Xiaoguang Qin and Xu Wang Principal Laboratory of Cenozoic Geology and Ecology Institute of Geography and Geophysics; And Shen Ren and Jianjun Liu A major laboratory for lunar and deep space exploration (Part of the National Astronomical Observatory).
Many additional researchers from these institutions joined them College of Earth and Planetary Sciencesand this is Institute of Atmospheric Physics. Their findings are detailed in a paper published today Scientific progress On April 28th.
As they describe it, the Surang rover has observed interesting features on the surface of Parson Dunes in Utopia Planitia, a vast plain and the largest impact basin in the solar system. These dunes are a defining feature of Mars’ northern hemisphere, similar to sand dunes found in deserts across Earth.
This is the result of high winds depositing sand in a crescent shape with the side bent downwind. Jurong observed shiny polygonal crusts, fissures, clumps and ridges by observing a section of dunes on the south side of Utopia Planitia.
The team concluded that these features were formed by small pockets of water from snow or ice mixed with mineral salts. As water sublimated into the Martian atmosphere, patches of hard crust and loose material were left behind, along with depressions and ridges. Like other features formed in the presence of water, it was preserved by Mars’ extremely cold and dry atmosphere.
But unlike other features that date back hundreds of eons or billions of years, the team estimates that these features formed between 1.4 million and 400,000 years ago (and possibly more recently).
As they explain in their paper, the team was able to rule out the possibility that frozen carbon dioxide (“dry ice”) and air were the cause:
“Alternatively, the involvement of a brine from snow/frozen ice is most likely the cause. This discovery sheds light on the wetter conditions of the modern Martian climate and provides important clues for future exploration, particularly in the search for signs of life at lower latitudes with relatively warm and more moderate surface temperatures.”
During the said period, the environment on Mars was similar to what it is today (i.e. very cold and dry). Thus, these findings indicate the existence of a recent hydrological cycle on Mars, which is much more recent than previously thought.
The team ran computer simulations and combined them with observations made by other robotic missions. These suggest that other regions on Mars may have conditions suitable for frost and ice formation at certain times of the year, resulting in similar features elsewhere.
This is consistent with observations made by NASA’s robotic missions Viking 1 And 2 Mars was discovered in the late 1970s. However, the general consensus among scientists is that morning frosts only occurred in a few places and under very restricted conditions.
The discovery indicates that although the amount of liquid water on Mars today is very small, liquid water may occasionally be present in other regions. As the study authors say:
“This discovery sheds light on the humid conditions of the recent Martian climate and provides important clues for future explorations looking for signs of enduring life, especially in low latitudes with relatively warm and mild surface temperatures.”
The discovery may also point to small patches of fertile land where microbial life can still be found today. Of course, more studies are needed before any of this can be said with confidence. These probes will have to wait for future missions because the rover has not yet awakened from hibernation.
According to Zhang Rongqiao, chief designer of Tianwen-1, this may be due to dust accumulating on the rover’s solar panels. As with NASA’s intelligence and exploration missions, this mission may prevent duplicate operations.
After the Tianwen-1 lander lifts off on May 22, 2021, the rover will spend about a year exploring the Martian surface before entering hibernation on May 20, 2022. , or 93 Earth days, the rover has exceeded its intended lifespan.
like May 5, 2022Jurong managed to travel 1,921 meters (1,194 miles) across the surface. If the China National Space Agency is unable to restart the rover and decides to end the mission, Jurong cannot choose a deeper discovery!
This article was originally published the universe today. Read on The original article.
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