BEJING, May 19.A team of researchers from the China University of Geological Sciences (Wuhan) has found direct evidence of the presence of an ancient ocean on the surface of Mars in the past, the Xinhua news agency reported on Friday.
A team of researchers led by Professor Xiao Long analyzed data from China's Zhuzhong rover's multispectral camera and found «petrological evidence of marine sediments on the surface of Mars» for the first time, the agency said.
The agency notes that studies have previously found signs of a large amount of liquid on Mars in the past, however, these claims remained controversial due to the lack of on-site analysis.
Past observations from Earth have shown that in 3.7 billion years, Mars has lost enough water to cover the entire surface of the red planet with an ocean of 140 meters. Some scientists believe that most of this water may not have evaporated into space, but may still be hidden at a shallow depth in the bowels of Mars.
The first Chinese spacecraft «Tianwen-1» for Mars exploration, consisting of an orbital module, a landing capsule and a rover, was launched on July 23, 2020 from the Wenchang Cosmodrome on Hainan Island. On May 15, 2021, the Zhuzhong rover as part of the Tianwen-1 lander successfully soft-landed in the southern part of the Utopia Plain on the surface of Mars. The main goal of the mission is to find possible signs of life on Mars, as well as to help scientists understand whether the conditions on this planet can change in the future so that it becomes suitable for human life. China became the first country in the world to fly around Mars, land on it, and explore the Red Planet with a rover in one mission.