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Water Ice and Possible Habitability in the Landing Area of Tianwen-1 Mission

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Abstract

The Tianwen-1 mission, marking China’s inaugural venture into Mars exploration, successfully deployed the Zhurong rover on Utopia Planitia. This review primarily focuses on the insights provided by the Mars Rover Penetrating Radar (RoPeR), a pivotal component of the mission’s scientific payload. The article synthesizes the RoPeR findings with an emphasis on the geological evolution and potential habitability of the Zhurong rover landing site. The study meticulously investigates the genesis and spatial distribution of water ice within Utopia Planitia, establishing correlations with the Martian climatic and hydrological history, the formation of typical landforms and mineral evidence associated with water ice/liquid water of this region. It further discusses the potential habitability of Mars’ subsurface in the current environmental context. This review also expatiates the techniques used in the analysis of RoPeR data, including the methodology for processing polarimetric radar data and the inversion of the dielectric properties of the Martian subsurface. Through this comprehensive review, we aim to present a cohesive picture of the Tianwen-1 mission’s findings, particularly the Zhurong rover results, and their implications for understanding Mars’ geological past, water ice, and assessing its habitability.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No.42241139, 62227901 and 42004099), Shenzhen Science and Technology Innovation Commission (Grant No. 20231121103211001), the Opening Fund of the Key Laboratory of Lunar and Deep Space Exploration, Chinese Academy of Sciences (No. LDSE202005), the Fund of Shanghai Institute of Aerospace System Engineering (No. PZ_YY_SYF_JY200275), the Shenzhen Municipal Government Investment Project (No. 2106_440300_04_03_901272), Shenzhen University innovation development fund basic experiment project (No. 2022631), the National Innovation and Entrepreneurship Training Program for College Students (No. 202310590016) and the team “Searching for Subglacial Water on Mars with Orbiting Ground Penetrating Radars” of the International Space Science Institute (ISSI).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Advanced Study, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, 518060, Guangdong, China

    Changzhi Jiang & Chunyu Ding

  2. Tiandu-Shenzhen University Deep Space Exploration Joint Laboratory, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, 518060, Guangdong, China

    Chunyu Ding

  3. Key Laboratory of Lunar and Deep Space Exploration, Chinese Academy of Sciences, National Astronomical Observatories, 100012, Beijing, China

    Yan Su & Shun Dai

  4. School of Astronomy and Space Science, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, 100049, Beijing, China

    Yan Su & Shun Dai

  5. Piesat Information Technology Co., Ltd, 100195, Beijing, China

    Shuguo Xing

  6. Deep Space Exploration Laboratory, 100086, Beijing, China

    Jiawei Li

  7. Lunar Exploration and Space Engineering Center, China National Space Administration, 100086, Beijing, China

    Jiawei Li

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Jiang, C., Ding, C., Su, Y. et al. Water Ice and Possible Habitability in the Landing Area of Tianwen-1 Mission. Space Sci Rev 220, 35 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11214-024-01068-z

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