The China Nationwide House Administration (CNSA) has revealed new knowledge from its Tianwen 1 Mars orbiter and Zhurong Mars rover, in keeping with a report from state-run media community CGTN.
Launched on July 23, 2020, Tianwen 1 and Zhurong, together with a lander, reached Martian orbit on Feb. 10, 2021; the orbiter has been working for almost 800 days. The rover and the lander reached the floor of Mars three months later, on Could 14, and the rover has to this point traversed 6,302 toes (1,921 meters).
Now, CGTN reports that CNSA has introduced that the orbiter and rover have despatched again 1,480 gigabytes of uncooked knowledge — a few of which helps the speculation that an historic ocean as soon as existed within the Utopia Planitia, the huge Martian plain that Zhurong is exploring.
Associated: China’s Mars rover Zhurong just snapped an epic self-portrait on the Red Planet (photos)
Scientists analyzing the information have found the existence of hydrated minerals within the “duricrust,” a tough mineral layer atop soil that sometimes kinds as a result of evaporation of groundwater. The scientists declare that this discovering proves there was “substantial liquid water exercise” within the area in some unspecified time in the future during the last billion years. They’ve additionally decided “that the Martian soil has excessive bearing energy and low friction parameters,” which might point out erosion as a result of wind, water or each.
The speculation {that a} liquid water ocean as soon as existed on Mars is not new — recent climate simulations have additionally indicated the existence of such an ocean. And, the truth is, scientists even found an enormous underground ice deposit beneath the Utopia Planitia years earlier than Zhurong’s arrival.
Each Tianwen 1 and Zhurong will proceed to discover Mars seeking water-related proof, however the two robots may also carry out different analysis. CNSA stated that its scientists have been finding out “the connection between the density of rocks on the Martian floor and the diploma of floor erosion, the distribution of ions and impartial particles within the near-Mars space surroundings and the gravity discipline of Mars,” in keeping with CGTN.
Research based mostly on knowledge from Tianwen 1 and Zhurong have already been revealed in Nature Astronomy, (opens in new tab) Nature Geoscience (opens in new tab), and Science Advances, CNSA famous.
Observe Stefanie Waldek on Twitter @StefanieWaldek. Observe us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.