China’s Mars rover finds signs of ‘recent’ water in sand dunes

Findings by Zhurong rover highlight new areas in warmer regions of Mars where conditions might be suitable for life to exist

Dunes could offer insights into ‘the possibility of water activity’ 1.4 million to 400,000 years ago or even later, Beijing-based team says in study

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Small pockets of water from thawing frost or snow, mixed with salt, are likely to have resulted in the small cracks, hard crusty surfaces, loose particles and other dune features, according to Chinese scientists. Photo: AP

Published: 1:51pm, 29 Apr 2023Updated: 3:18pm, 29 Apr 2023

Water may be more widespread and recent on Mars than previously thought, based on observations of Martian sand dunes by China’s rover.

The finding highlights new, potentially fertile areas in the warmer regions of Mars where conditions might be suitable for life to exist, though more study is needed.

The news comes days after mission leaders acknowledged that the Zhurong rover had yet to wake up since going into hibernation for the Martian winter nearly a year ago.

Its solar panels are likely to be covered with dust, choking off its power source and possibly preventing the rover from operating again, said Zhang Rongqiao, the mission’s chief designer.

Before Zhurong fell silent, it observed salt-rich dunes with cracks and crusts, which researchers said were possibly mixed with melting morning frost or snow as recently as a few hundred thousand years ago.

Their estimated date range for when the cracks and other dune features formed in Utopia Planitia, a vast plain in the northern hemisphere, was sometime after 1.4 million to 400,000 years ago or even younger.

Conditions during that period were similar to those present now on Mars, with rivers and lakes dried up and no longer flowing as they did billions of years earlier.

Studying the structure and chemical make-up of these dunes can provide insights into “the possibility of water activity” during this period, the Beijing-based team wrote in a study published in Science Advances.

China’s Mars rover finds signs of ‘recent’ water in sand dunes

Findings by Zhurong rover highlight new areas in warmer regions of Mars where conditions might be suitable for life to exist Dunes could offer insights into ‘the possibility of water activity’ 1.4 million to 400,000 years ago or even later, Beijing-based team says in study

Findings by Zhurong rover highlight new areas in warmer regions of Mars where conditions might be suitable for life to exist

Dunes could offer insights into ‘the possibility of water activity’ 1.4 million to 400,000 years ago or even later, Beijing-based team says in study