There may have been water on Mars more recently than we thought – What Chinese scientists have discovered

THE Mars probably had liquid water until much more recently than previously thought, according to news Chinese studywhich is based on data collected by Chinese Zhurong rover.

His scientists National Center for Space Science Beijing and the Chinese Academy of Sciences, led by Yang Liu, who published the journal Science Advances, estimate that water may have existed on the neighboring planet until about 700 million years ago and not until three billion years ago. is the prevailing theory to date.

The rover moves in the large and relatively unexplored crater Utopia Planitia of northern Mars since May 2021. To date it has covered a distance of about two kilometers.

Zhurong’s two spectrometers analyzed rocks on the crater surface and found its chemical “signature” water in hydrated minerals, which come from the most recent era in Martian geological history, the so-called “Amazon”. A time when scientists until now thought it was cold and dry.

The estimates of Chinese scientists should, however, be considered preliminary and confirmed by other findings.

See here the scientific publication

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