Recently, Chinese scientists used the scientific data obtained by the "Tianwen-1" Mars exploration mission to reveal the superficial fine structure and physical properties of Mars today, providing an important basis for a deep understanding of Mars geological evolution, environment and climate change. The relevant research results were published in the international academic journal Nature on the evening of September 26, Beijing time.
On May 15, 2021, the "Zhurong" Mars rover carried by my country's first Mars exploration mission, Tianwen-1 , successfully landed in the pre-selected landing area in the southern pre-selected landing area of utopian plain , and started patrol and exploration work. The Utopian Plain is the largest impact basin on Mars, and it was once an ancient ocean, indicating that there might have been a habitable environment in Mars in the early days. Detailed underground structure and physical properties of Mars are the key basis for studying the evolution of Mars geology and its habitable environment, and are an important part of Mars exploration.
"Zhurong" Mars rover detection area is the southern part of the Utopian Plain, with a wide band of radar , and its actual maximum detection depth is 80 meters.
In the latest research, researchers conducted in-depth analysis of the low-frequency radar data of the first 113 Mars day and the detection length of 1171 meters of the "Zhurong" Mars rover, and obtained high-precision structural layered images and stratigraphic properties information above 80 meters shallow surface. They found that there were two upwardly thinning sequences under the ignition layer several meters thick in this area, which may reflect the fire table transformation process related to water activities in many periods in the past 3.5 billion to 3.2 billion years.
In addition, one of the main goals of the Mars rover surface detection radar is to detect whether groundwater/ice exists in the southern part of the Utopian Plain today. The low-frequency radar imaging results show that the reflected signal intensity within the depth range of 0-80 meters is stable, and the medium has a low dielectric constant, which ruled out the possibility of an aqueous layer below the patrol path. The thermal simulation results further show that liquid water, sulfate or carbonate brine is difficult to exist within 100 meters underground in the landing area of the "Zhurong" Mars rover, but the possibility of salt ice cannot be ruled out at present.
This article published in Nature is an original result obtained by Chinese scientists using the scientific data of the first Mars exploration mission in my country's "Tianwen-1". It reveals the fine structure and physical characteristics of Mars today, provides observational evidence of the possible long-term existence of water activities on Mars, and provides an important basis for a deep understanding of Mars' geological evolution, environmental and climate change.
Information: CCTV News Client
Editor: He Xiaoyan
