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China’s Zhurong Mars rover finds hints landscape was shaped by water
The first reported findings from China’s Mars rover suggest the plain it is exploring was shaped by winds – and perhaps also by water.
China’s Zhurong Mars rover landed at Utopia Planitia – a large plain in the northern lowlands of the planet – back in May 2021.
- Chen Ly
- New Scientist
Now, initial data collected by the rover suggests that the site has been subject to long periods of weathering in the past by wind, and maybe even water.
During Zhurong’s first 60 sols (Mars-days) of operation, it traversed 450.9 metres of flat land littered with small rocks.
At the same time, the rover collected data to study the planet’s geological structure and surface composition, which…