Latest news with #Zhurong
UPI
7 days ago
- UPI
On This Day, July 23: China launches Tianwen-1 mission to Mars
July 23 (UPI) -- In 1829, William Burt of Mount Vernon, Mich., patented the "typographer," believed to be the first typewriter. In 1962, Jackie Robinson became the first Black player inducted in the Baseball Hall of Fame. He broke Major League Baseball's color barrier in 1947. In 1967, rioting erupted on 12th Street in the heart of Detroit's predominantly Black inner city. By the time it was quelled four days later by 7,000 National Guard and U.S. Army troops, 43 people were dead, 342 injured. In 1973, Watergate special prosecutor Archibald Cox served subpoenas on the White House after U.S. President Richard Nixon refused to turn over requested tapes and documents. In 1982, actor Vic Morrow and two child actors were killed when a helicopter crashed on the movie set of The Twilight Zone. In 1984, Vanessa Williams gave up her crown as Miss America, bowing to demands by pageant officials that she quit because she appeared nude in sexually explicit pictures in Penthouse magazine. Former Miss America Vanessa Williams (R) poses with the 2015 Miss America, Miss Georgia Betty Cantrell on September 13, 2016. File Photo by John Angelillo/UPI In 1999, U.S. Air Force Col. Eileen Collins became the first woman to command a space shuttle flight, with the launch of Columbia on a four-day mission. In 2002, a laser-guided bomb fired from an Israeli warplane hit the Gaza home of Sheik Salah Shehada, founder of the military wing of Hamas, killing him and 14 others and wounding more than 140 people. In 2003, the Massachusetts attorney general said an investigation indicated nearly 1,000 cases of abuse by Roman Catholic priests and other church personnel in the Boston diocese over 60 years. In 2005, three synchronized terrorist bombings struck Sharm el-Sheik, an Egyptian resort, killing at least 90 people and injuring 240. U.S. President George W. Bush (C) and first lady Laura visit the Egyptian Embassy and greet ambassador Nabil Fahmy (L) to sign a book of condolence for the weekend bombing in Egypt's Red Sea resort town of Sharm el-Sheik in Washington on July 25, 2005. File Photo by Jay L. Clendenin/UPI In 2012, the NCAA imposed severe penalties, including a $60 million fine, on Penn State University. One official accused the university of a "conspiracy of silence" about child abuse involving former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky. In 2013, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration released a scientific review that said mint flavoring makes it easier to start smoking cigarettes and then harder to quit. In 2014, a TransAsia Airways twin turboprop plane crashed in stormy weather during an emergency landing on a Taiwanese island, killing 48 people and injuring 10. In 2019, Conservative Party members voted Boris Johnson as Britain's new prime minister, succeeding Theresa May. In 2020, China launched the Tianwen-1 orbiter in its first attempt to reach the surface of Mars. The rover Zhurong set down on the red planet on May 15, 2021. The mission's Zhurong orbiter collected data indicating water may have existed on the planet more recently than previously thought. In 2023, Elon Musk announced that the social media platform Twitter would now be known as X. In 2024, Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle resigned after it was announced a bipartisan House task force would investigate the attempted assassination of Donald Trump during his 2024 presidential run. File Photo by Jemal Countess/UPI
Scientific American
02-07-2025
- Science
- Scientific American
How China Could Win the Race to Return Rocks from Mars
On May 14, 2021, China's Tianwen-1 lander plummeted from space to streak through the skies above Mars's vast plain of Utopia Planitia, with an aeroshell protecting it from the heat and plasma of its high-speed atmospheric entry. After unfurling its parachutes and pulsing its engines to zero in on an amenable landing site, the spacecraft touched down safely onto the Red Planet, where it deployed a rover, Zhurong, to explore the surrounding alien landscape. This engineering feat was hugely significant, confirming China as a major player in planetary exploration. With Tianwen-1's touchdown, China became the only other nation ever to successfully land on Mars besides the U.S. Moreover, the mission also paved the way for a far more ambitious and unprecedented project. That project, Tianwen-3, is set to launch via two Long March 5 rockets from Wenchang spaceport on the Chinese island of Hainan in late 2028. One launch will carry Tianwen-3's lander, while the other will transport the mission's Mars orbiter, which is also an Earth-return vehicle. The mission aims to collect samples of Martian rock and soil for delivery back to Earth, where subsequent studies could, potentially, redefine our understanding of life itself and our place in the cosmos. 'Tianwen-3 will be the first mission aiming to bring back material from another planet to search for signs of life,' says Li Yiliang, a professor of astrobiology at the University of Hong Kong and one of the authors of a paper published in Nature Astronomy on June 19 that offers new details on the mission. (Tianwen-2, another Chinese sample return mission, launched in May 2025 but is bound for a near-Earth asteroid as well as a comet; China has also pulled off two successful lunar sample return missions, Chang'e 5 and Chang'e 6.) On supporting science journalism If you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today. Tianwen-3 will use the same approach as Tianwen-1 to make planetfall in a yet-to-be-selected landing area. The vagaries of spacecraft engineering, however, demand the site should be somewhere in the midlatitudes of the planet's northern hemisphere; it also must be at an altitude of at least three kilometers below the planet's average elevation so that more of Mars's thin air can serve to slow Tianwen-3's descent. The lander will use proven tech from China's lunar explorations, drilling as deep as two meters for subsurface samples and scooping up material from the surface. Additionally, a helicopter drone—following the lead of NASA's pioneering Ingenuity flights —will collect selected additional rock and loose particle samples from within around 100 meters of Tianwen-3's landing site. The lander will operate for around two months on the surface, in which it will use scientific payloads such as a ground penetrating radar and a Raman spectrometer to gather more data on the broader geological context for collected samples. When the time comes, it will fire off a solid rocket booster to send a canister containing at least 500 grams of material into Mars orbit to dock with the waiting orbiter-returner spacecraft. The eventual return trip should bring Tianwen-3's samples home sometime in 2031. Once on Earth, the samples will be swiftly secured and transported to a custom-built Mars sample laboratory, where they'll be extensively analyzed while carefully following 'planetary protection' policies meant to prevent any potential otherworldly cross-contamination. Although Tianwen-3's objectives range from investigating Mars's interior to studying its wispy atmosphere, scientists working on the mission are most eager for what it might reveal about the planet's possible former or even extant life. If, in fact, anything ever dwelled on the Red Planet, then Tianwen-3's samples could conceivably contain various telltale signs of its presence—so-called biosignatures. A convincing biosignature could come in different types, Li says. For example, Tianwen-3's scientists will be seeking molecules directly produced by Martian organisms to fulfill known biochemical functions, akin to the DNA and RNA molecules that life-forms on Earth rely on to store and transmit genetic information. Another biosignature is biogenic isotope fractionation—the distinctive way that living organisms alter the natural ratios of stable isotopes in their ecosystems; on Earth, for instance, biochemical processes such as photosynthesis prefer the lighter carbon-12 rather than heavier carbon isotopes, leading to detectable shifts in the proportions of these isotopes with respect to the surrounding environment. A third approach, Li adds, would be to look for fossil evidence, such as the imprints that microbes may leave behind in mudstones and other fine-grained sedimentary rocks. China's astrobiological focus for its Martian explorations is 'a laudable, ambitious goal,' says Mahesh Anand, a professor of planetary science and exploration at the Open University in England. 'This is exactly what we have been recommending over the years: to look for any signs of biogenic activity or even just to understand that there was a habitable environment. The rest of the global planetary science community would love to get answers to these questions.' China's approach is simpler in many ways than the U.S.-led Mars Sample Return (MSR) mission, which is a joint project between NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA). MSR's workhorse, NASA's Perseverance rover, is already on Mars, where it has spent more than four years collecting dozens of carefully selected samples from Jezero Crater, a diverse site harboring an ancient river delta and other complex geological features that may preserve evidence of past life. In contrast, Tianwen-3's sampling will be limited to its immediate surroundings, which will probably be more drab—because although a boring, flat landscape may be of less astrobiological appeal, it is far easier to land on. And the spacecraft's landing ellipse—the area within which Tianwen-3 is most likely to touch down—spans some 50 by 20 kilometers, meaning a precision touchdown to visit any especially alluring targets is highly unlikely. But, largely because of its greater complexity and cost, MSR is under threat of cancellation from the Trump administration following years of delays and cost overruns. The project's potential elimination, however, would be only one of many grievous blows to NASA's science, the funding for which the Trump administration has proposed to cut by nearly half. 'The reason why NASA went with Perseverance as this first step was so that you would have this curated, intentionally selected and well-recorded process and contextual process of where these rocks came from,' says Casey Dreier, chief of space policy at the Planetary Society, a U.S. space science advocacy group. 'This isn't intended in any way to denigrate the achievements of the Chinese robotic program, but in general I think you can characterize a lot of [its] framing as symbol-driven and capability-focused over the direct science return.' China's more basic engineering-led plan, with the science trailing after, may put limits on the questions Tianwen-3 can realistically answer. But this methodical, step-by-step approach to progressively building and demonstrating critical capabilities is exactly what has now positioned China to take the lead in the race to return rocks from Mars. Meanwhile, the far more elaborate MSR has floundered. Dreier says that this moment, in which the U.S. appears to be ceding leadership in this area to China, will have implications for global space exploration. 'The U.S. needs to lead and work with its allies to continue to invest in these big, bold efforts to make potentially historic discoveries,' Dreier says. If the White House has its way, he adds, then Perseverance's samples might only find their way back to Earth after an even more complex, expensive and distant human spaceflight program led by SpaceX lands astronauts on Mars. Which means, for now, China will get its shot at a major first in space exploration. 'The way I look at it is that China is starting to explore Mars,' Anand says. The richer science on offer from a complex MSR-style plan is enticing, he says, but sticking to simplicity and clearly achievable near-term results 'probably has a higher chance of returning science than planning on something that might take decades.' U.S. and European scientists have for generations seen obtaining samples as a 'holy grail' for Mars exploration. For China, retrieving Martian material fits into the strategic framework of its broader, solar system-encompassing Tianwen program, the name of which translates to 'heavenly questions.' Beyond Tianwen-3 and its already-launched asteroid-and-comet-bound sibling Tianwen-2, there is also Tianwen-4, slated for liftoff around 2029, which will target the Jupiter system and its intriguing Galilean moon Callisto. Future missions in the Tianwen series, including to the ice giants Uranus and Neptune, are also under consideration. For Li, Tianwen-3 remains the Tianwen program's most compelling project, in part because its path to Mars and back is so straightforward; although lofty, its objectives still appear eminently within reach. 'It is important for humanity to understand its position in the solar system and the universe,' he says, because this would mark a profound milestone in human history. And, on the threshold of attempting to bring back the first samples from Mars—with the possibility of finding the first-ever evidence for alien life within them—China is now uniquely poised to achieve this milestone.
Scottish Sun
10-05-2025
- Science
- Scottish Sun
I know NASA is hiding evidence of aliens on Mars – I have photographic proof and here's why they're keeping it secret
LIFE ON MARS? I know NASA is hiding evidence of aliens on Mars – I have photographic proof and here's why they're keeping it secret Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) NASA has already found signs of alien life on Mars but is still keeping it secret, a rogue scientist claims. Barry DiGregorio, 71, believes rovers from the space agency captured snaps of alien fossils on two different occasions. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 6 An image of unusual formations found on Mars by Nasa's Curiosity rover in 2018 Credit: x/@marscuriosity 6 The agency said the images likely sow crystal growth Credit: x/@marscuriosity 6 But astrobiologist Barry DiGregorio believes it shows signs of alien life Credit: Supplied In 2018, Nasa's Curiosity rover took images of what it said likely show crystal growth. But DiGregorio accused Nasa of failing to investigate properly and spent two years researching the images himself. The author, who wrote Discovery on Vera Rubin Ridge, Trace Fossils on Mars, then concluded they were 'biogenic' - meaning they were produced by living organisms. He theorised Nasa was staying tight-lipped to boost interest in its hopes of sending humans to the Red Planet in the 2030s. DeGregorio, an honorary research fellow at Buckingham Centre for Astrobiology, now claims Nasa found yet more evidence of alien life on Mars. He believes images snapped by the Perseverance rover in 2020 show signs of 'worm-like' aliens who roamed its historic oceans. The astrobiologist told The Sun: 'I watched the rover coming down right on its landing site. 'You could see the engines just brushing all the dust aside for the rocks to become apparent, and the very first images it took were these rocks that had holes in them. 'Then after China's Zhurong rover mission, they published a paper where they said all the rocks that they found were of sedimentary origin, and that they formed in In water.' DiGregorio then saw a striking resemblance to the trace fossils he'd grown up studying in Lake Ontario, on the border of Canada and the US. Meet Sunbird, Britain's secret space nuke that could help us colonise Mars… or even take trips to the edge of the galaxy He added: 'It made an intriguing hypothesis because I had always been fascinated by the trace fossils around Lake Ontario, I grew up around that area. 'We didn't have dinosaur fossils, but what we did have was lots of marine fossils dating back to the Ordovician era and even before. 'The sandstones that I found on the shores of Lake Ontario I felt were a good analogy to what we were seeing on Mars. 'Now we know that those rocks there are marine sedimentary rocks, it solidifies it a bit.' And DiGregorio was so gobsmacked by the discovery he thought Nasa was preparing an announcement. But instead, he claims the rover failed to properly examine the rocks. He continued: 'So the fact that the Perseverance rover landed right on top of similar rocks was almost too much to bear. 'When I saw those rocks all over the place, I'm going, 'what? Oh my God'. 6 Images snapped by Nasa's Perseverance rover in 2020 Credit: 6 DiGregorio believes they show signs of 'worm-like' aliens who roamed its historic ocean Credit: 'I thought, for sure, Nasa is going to make a big announcement. 'And instead, what they did was they headed towards the opposite direction. So they didn't really analyse those rocks at all.' DiGregorio doesn't believe the images point to an alien civilisation, the kind that might be drawn up in a sci-fi film. But he does believe they were jellyfish-type figures that could move around. He added: 'The holes in the rocks tell me the story that bigger organisms were there, but they were essentially marine organisms. 'So wormy things, maybe fish, possibly jellyfish, really ancient type things that moved around. 'I'm thinking wormy-type things that were around during the Ediacaran period. 'Then the climate on Mars changed and the atmosphere changed. 'The water probably got absorbed into the soil and a lot of it left through the atmosphere due to the solar wind.' Mars facts Here's what you need to know about the red planet... Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun It is named after the Roman god of war The landmass of Mars is very similar to Earth, but due to the difference in gravity, you could jump three times higher there than you can here. Mars is mountainous and hosts the tallest mountain known in the Solar System called Olympus Mons, which is three times higher than Everest Mars is considered the second most habitable planet after Earth. It takes the planet 687 Earth days to orbit the Sun The planet has a diameter of 4,212 miles, and has an average distance from Earth of 140 million miles Martian temperatures can vary wildly, reaching as high as 70F/20C or as low as -225F/-153C Nasa said after the Perseverance mission that the findings couldn't be fully analysed because sending the appropriate equipment was too complicated. But the agency is planning a sample return mission based on its findings, and did not rule out the possibility of the Perseverance photos pointing to signs of alien life. Yet asked why Nasa would continue to conceal everything it knows about the images, DiGregorio theorised it was because of the potential dangers to astronauts. Mars has an incredibly hostile environment compared to Earth. It fluctuates between extreme temperatures, and has a surface level radiation that would be incredibly harmful to humans. DiGregorio added: 'I think that they don't want to say anything about it because of the fact they are sending humans there. 'If you have microbes on Mars, and they say we've discovered life on Mars, it could be different to Earth life and could be toxic or dangerous to human astronauts. That's what I think it is.' According to Nasa's website, it hopes they will send humans to Mars in the 2030s. A Nasa spokesman, responding to DiGregorio's claims, told The Sun one of the agency's goals is to "understand whether Mars has, or ever has had life, and any credible evidence of potential past life." They insisted the agency will "continue to investigate the best of our ability". The spokesman added: "During its exploration of the Martian surface, Perseverance has encountered many interesting rock features, and the science team has determined which rocks are worth further investigation, and even sampling, based on all of the available data. "To date, NASA has yet to find any credible evidence of extraterrestrial life. "Our exploration of Mars also has to led to many images that evoke our natural curiosity and creativity of interpretation. 6 "Our science teams spend many hours debating what may have formed these visual features, while bringing to bear all of the additional information afforded by our incredibly outfitted rovers and orbiters. "While the science community continues to theorise these images point to possible crystal growth, Nasa's science missions are working together with a goal to find unmistakable signs of life beyond Earth." It comes after Nasa admitted a mysterious hole on Mars could be harbouring alien life in an extensive network of underground tunnels, From orbit, scientists have captured a deep pit on the Red Planet that looks like it leads underground. The image, titled "An unusual hole in Mars," shows a pockmarked planet that could be hiding tons of subterranean pockets. "There are numerous holes pictured in this Swiss cheese-like landscape, with all-but-one of them showing a dusty, dark, Martian terrain beneath evaporating, light, carbon dioxide ice," Nasa wrote. "The most unusual hole is on the upper right, spans about 100 meters, and seems to punch through to a lower level." It's unclear what caused the hole. Though scientists assume the circular crater that surrounds it suggests it was created by a meteor impact. "Holes such as this are of particular interest because they might be portals to lower levels that extend into expansive underground caves," Nasa explained. "If so, these naturally occurring tunnels are relatively protected from the harsh surface of Mars, making them relatively good candidates to contain Martian life. "These pits are therefore also prime targets for possible future spacecraft, robots, and even human interplanetary explorers."
CNN
28-02-2025
- Science
- CNN
China's Mars rover makes stunning discovery in search for evidence of ancient water
Mars may have once hosted an ocean with waves that lapped against sandy beaches 3.6 billion years ago, according to new research. China's Zhurong rover and its ground-penetrating radar detected the ancient shorelines when it operated from May 2021 to May 2022. The rover landed in Utopia Planitia, a plain within the largest known impact basin on Mars, near a series of ridges in the planet's northern hemisphere. Scientists have long questioned whether the ridges might represent the remnants of a shoreline, so Zhurong set out in search of evidence of ancient water. The study, based on data collected by Zhurong as its radar instrument peered beneath the surface to examine hidden rock layers, was published Monday in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 'We're finding places on Mars that used to look like ancient beaches and ancient river deltas,' said study coauthor Benjamin Cardenas, assistant professor of geology in the department of geosciences at Penn State, in a statement. 'We found evidence for wind, waves, no shortage of sand — a proper, vacation-style beach.' What's more, it's possible the Martian environment was warmer and wetter for tens of millions of years longer than previously suspected, the study authors wrote. The revelations add to the increasing evidence that the red planet once had a warmer, wetter climate as well as an ocean that covered one-third of the Martian surface — conditions that might have created a hospitable environment for life. The search for Mars' ancient ocean In the 1970s, NASA's Mariner 9 and Viking 2 were the first missions to spy features that suggested the presence of an ancient ocean on Mars. Utopia Planitia dates to the Hesperian Period, or 3.7 billion to 3 billion years ago, and it lacks abundant evidence for standing water, unlike more ancient regions of Mars, said Aaron Cavosie, a planetary scientist and senior lecturer at the Space Science and Technology Centre at Curtin University in Perth, Australia. Cavosie was not involved in the new study. 'The Mariner 9 orbiter first imaged giant canyons on Hesperian surfaces of Mars in the 1970s, but they are generally viewed as representing catastrophic bursts of groundwater to the surface, rather than evidence for standing water,' Cavosie said. 'The idea is that Mars' climate cooled down by this time and the surface dried up.' Multiple spacecraft have captured observations that suggest much of Mars' water escaped to space as the planet's atmosphere disappeared — astronomers are still investigating what caused this dramatic transformation. As the planet cooled, some of the water likely moved underground in the form of ice or combined with rocks to create minerals. Viking's images showcased what appeared to be a shoreline in the northern hemisphere. But in stark contrast to the level shorelines on Earth, the Martian feature was jaggedly irregular, with height differences of up to 6.2 miles (10 kilometers). Study coauthor Michael Manga, a professor of Earth and planetary science at the University of California, Berkeley, and his colleagues previously suggested that volcanic activity in the region, as well as a change in Mars' rotation, altered the shoreline and caused it to be uneven over time. 'Because the spin axis of Mars has changed, the shape of Mars has changed. And so what used to be flat is no longer flat,' Manga said. But what scientists needed most to answer their questions were observations made from 'boots on the ground,' or in this case, rover tracks, Cavosie said. Zhurong would be able to see whether the rock layers buried in Utopia Planitia were volcanic or if they contained sediments consistent with those of an ocean. The dip of a shoreline When Zhurong landed, it traveled along Utopia Planitia's ridges, collecting data up to 260 feet (80 meters) beneath the surface with radar. Between 32.8 and 114.8 feet (10 and 35 meters) down, the rover's radar detected sedimentary structures similar to layered beaches on Earth that dipped at a 14.5-degree angle. The radar also measured the size of the particles, which matched that of sand grains. 'The structures don't look like sand dunes,' Manga said. 'They don't look like an impact crater. They don't look like lava flows. That's when we started thinking about oceans. The orientation of these features (is) parallel to what the old shoreline would have been.' The structures strongly resembled coastal sediment deposits on Earth, such as those found in the Bay of Bengal, formed by the presence of a long-term stable ocean, the study authors said. The team said it believes the rover found 'foreshore deposits,' which take millions of years to form as sediments carried by tides and waves slope downward toward an ocean. 'This stood out to us immediately because it suggests there were waves, which means there was a dynamic interface of air and water,' Cardenas said. 'When we look back at where the earliest life on Earth developed, it was in the interaction between oceans and land, so this is painting a picture of ancient habitable environments, capable of harboring conditions friendly toward microbial life.' Rivers likely helped dump sediment into the oceans, which was then distributed by waves to create beaches. Sedimentary rocks, carved channels and even the remains of an ancient river delta, studied by NASA's Perseverance rover, have shown how water once shaped the Martian landscape. After the ocean dried up, the beaches were likely blanketed by volcanic eruptions and material from dust storms, effectively preserving the shoreline, Cardenas said. 'It's always a challenge to know how the last 3.5 billion years of erosion on Mars might have altered or completely erased evidence of an ocean,' he said. 'But not with these deposits. This is a very unique dataset.' Now, the team wants to determine the height of the waves and tides within the ocean, how long the ocean persisted, and whether it provided a potentially hospitable environment, Magna said. François Forget, senior research scientist and research director at the French National Centre for Scientific Research, said he isn't entirely convinced by the hypothesis presented in the study that only ocean shorelines can explain the radar data. Forget was not involved in the new research. 'I do not think that we can be certain that the observations could not be explained by dune processes,' or the formation of sand dunes, which Forget said he believes to be more likely on Mars. Meanwhile, Dr. Joe McNeil, a planetary scientist and postdoctoral researcher at London's Natural History Museum, believes the findings add weight to the hypothesis of an ancient northern ocean on Mars by providing crucial subsurface evidence. McNeil was not involved in the new study. 'If these coastal deposits truly represent deposition of sediments at the edge of an ancient ocean, it suggests a prolonged period of stable liquid water, which has major implications for Mars' climate history,' McNeil said. 'It would mean Mars had conditions that could have supported a hydrological system with potential habitable environments for substantial amounts of time.'
CNN
28-02-2025
- Science
- CNN
China's Mars rover makes stunning discovery in search for evidence of ancient water
Mars may have once hosted an ocean with waves that lapped against sandy beaches 3.6 billion years ago, according to new research. China's Zhurong rover and its ground-penetrating radar detected the ancient shorelines when it operated from May 2021 to May 2022. The rover landed in Utopia Planitia, a plain within the largest known impact basin on Mars, near a series of ridges in the planet's northern hemisphere. Scientists have long questioned whether the ridges might represent the remnants of a shoreline, so Zhurong set out in search of evidence of ancient water. The study, based on data collected by Zhurong as its radar instrument peered beneath the surface to examine hidden rock layers, was published Monday in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 'We're finding places on Mars that used to look like ancient beaches and ancient river deltas,' said study coauthor Benjamin Cardenas, assistant professor of geology in the department of geosciences at Penn State, in a statement. 'We found evidence for wind, waves, no shortage of sand — a proper, vacation-style beach.' What's more, it's possible the Martian environment was warmer and wetter for tens of millions of years longer than previously suspected, the study authors wrote. The revelations add to the increasing evidence that the red planet once had a warmer, wetter climate as well as an ocean that covered one-third of the Martian surface — conditions that might have created a hospitable environment for life. The search for Mars' ancient ocean In the 1970s, NASA's Mariner 9 and Viking 2 were the first missions to spy features that suggested the presence of an ancient ocean on Mars. Utopia Planitia dates to the Hesperian Period, or 3.7 billion to 3 billion years ago, and it lacks abundant evidence for standing water, unlike more ancient regions of Mars, said Aaron Cavosie, a planetary scientist and senior lecturer at the Space Science and Technology Centre at Curtin University in Perth, Australia. Cavosie was not involved in the new study. 'The Mariner 9 orbiter first imaged giant canyons on Hesperian surfaces of Mars in the 1970s, but they are generally viewed as representing catastrophic bursts of groundwater to the surface, rather than evidence for standing water,' Cavosie said. 'The idea is that Mars' climate cooled down by this time and the surface dried up.' Multiple spacecraft have captured observations that suggest much of Mars' water escaped to space as the planet's atmosphere disappeared — astronomers are still investigating what caused this dramatic transformation. As the planet cooled, some of the water likely moved underground in the form of ice or combined with rocks to create minerals. Viking's images showcased what appeared to be a shoreline in the northern hemisphere. But in stark contrast to the level shorelines on Earth, the Martian feature was jaggedly irregular, with height differences of up to 6.2 miles (10 kilometers). Study coauthor Michael Manga, a professor of Earth and planetary science at the University of California, Berkeley, and his colleagues previously suggested that volcanic activity in the region, as well as a change in Mars' rotation, altered the shoreline and caused it to be uneven over time. 'Because the spin axis of Mars has changed, the shape of Mars has changed. And so what used to be flat is no longer flat,' Manga said. But what scientists needed most to answer their questions were observations made from 'boots on the ground,' or in this case, rover tracks, Cavosie said. Zhurong would be able to see whether the rock layers buried in Utopia Planitia were volcanic or if they contained sediments consistent with those of an ocean. The dip of a shoreline When Zhurong landed, it traveled along Utopia Planitia's ridges, collecting data up to 260 feet (80 meters) beneath the surface with radar. Between 32.8 and 114.8 feet (10 and 35 meters) down, the rover's radar detected sedimentary structures similar to layered beaches on Earth that dipped at a 14.5-degree angle. The radar also measured the size of the particles, which matched that of sand grains. 'The structures don't look like sand dunes,' Manga said. 'They don't look like an impact crater. They don't look like lava flows. That's when we started thinking about oceans. The orientation of these features (is) parallel to what the old shoreline would have been.' The structures strongly resembled coastal sediment deposits on Earth, such as those found in the Bay of Bengal, formed by the presence of a long-term stable ocean, the study authors said. The team said it believes the rover found 'foreshore deposits,' which take millions of years to form as sediments carried by tides and waves slope downward toward an ocean. 'This stood out to us immediately because it suggests there were waves, which means there was a dynamic interface of air and water,' Cardenas said. 'When we look back at where the earliest life on Earth developed, it was in the interaction between oceans and land, so this is painting a picture of ancient habitable environments, capable of harboring conditions friendly toward microbial life.' Rivers likely helped dump sediment into the oceans, which was then distributed by waves to create beaches. Sedimentary rocks, carved channels and even the remains of an ancient river delta, studied by NASA's Perseverance rover, have shown how water once shaped the Martian landscape. After the ocean dried up, the beaches were likely blanketed by volcanic eruptions and material from dust storms, effectively preserving the shoreline, Cardenas said. 'It's always a challenge to know how the last 3.5 billion years of erosion on Mars might have altered or completely erased evidence of an ocean,' he said. 'But not with these deposits. This is a very unique dataset.' Now, the team wants to determine the height of the waves and tides within the ocean, how long the ocean persisted, and whether it provided a potentially hospitable environment, Magna said. François Forget, senior research scientist and research director at the French National Centre for Scientific Research, said he isn't entirely convinced by the hypothesis presented in the study that only ocean shorelines can explain the radar data. Forget was not involved in the new research. 'I do not think that we can be certain that the observations could not be explained by dune processes,' or the formation of sand dunes, which Forget said he believes to be more likely on Mars. Meanwhile, Dr. Joe McNeil, a planetary scientist and postdoctoral researcher at London's Natural History Museum, believes the findings add weight to the hypothesis of an ancient northern ocean on Mars by providing crucial subsurface evidence. McNeil was not involved in the new study. 'If these coastal deposits truly represent deposition of sediments at the edge of an ancient ocean, it suggests a prolonged period of stable liquid water, which has major implications for Mars' climate history,' McNeil said. 'It would mean Mars had conditions that could have supported a hydrological system with potential habitable environments for substantial amounts of time.'
