At first glance, the surface of Mars is a hostile place. The soil there is dry, temperatures fluctuate from one extreme to the other, and the air is incredibly toxic.
However, there is plenty of evidence to suggest that this planet was once warmer and wetter, and that there was water on its surface. According to one hypothesis, the atmosphere of Mars gradually dissolved and with it a large part of the water. What remains is current concentrated around the poles in the form of ice and permafrost.
Extensive space exploration has already been conducted to learn more about this transitional period on Mars. According to experts from the Chinese mission Tianwen-1, liquid water existed on Mars later than we thought.
Water only existed on Mars a few hundred years ago
The northern hemisphere of Mars is characterized by dunes resembling those of some deserts on Earth. These dunes are therefore particularly intriguing for researchers as they could hold several mysteries about life and its beginnings. To this end, the Zhurong rover of the Chinese Academy of Sciences observed salty dunes in the region of Utopia Planitia.
The tool identified crusts, fissures, aggregates and bright polygonal ridges in this area. These elements come from a water mix caused by the melting of frost or snow and mineral salts. As the water in the Martian atmosphere sublimated, patches of hard crust, pits, and ridges were left behind. They were then preserved by the atmosphere extremely cold and dry on the red planet. The team assumes that these mechanisms were present in between 1.4 million years and 400,000 years.
Mars would still contain water at certain locations and times of the year
The team did it too computer simulations and compare the results with Data from other robot missions. The results show Conditions favoring the formation of frost and ice in other regions of Mars. This discovery confirms observations made by NASA’s Viking missions 1 and 2 in the late 1970s. She seems to confirm the presence of liquid water on Marseven if the amount is very small.
“This discovery sheds light on the wetter conditions of the modern Martian climate and provides important clues for future scouting missions in search of signs of life, particularly at lower latitudes where surface temperatures are comparatively warmer and easier to control.”
The mission also paved the way for patches of fertile soil where microbes could still currently exist. Of course, more studies are needed before this can be said with certainty.