Data from subsurface surveys sent by NASA's Perseverance rover in 2022 confirm the presence of water deposits in Jezero Crater, a massive basin on Mars, according to a study published Friday.
The results of subsurface radar signals emitted by the Perseverance rover support the theory, based on previous satellite images and other data, according to which some parts of Mars were once covered in water and may have grown there.
The study was compiled by researchers from UCLA and the University of Oslo, and published in the journal Science Advances – I reported it Reuters. The vehicle's sensors, which penetrated to a depth of 20 meters, revealed layers that clearly indicate that waterborne soil sediments were deposited in Jezero Crater and its delta from a river that feeds it, just like Earth's lakes.
Recently, hvg.hu also reported that it had taken a panoramic image of the Perseverance Jezero crater, so we can look around with our own eyes in the area where the device is currently located.
The recording consists of a total of 993 images recorded by Mastcam-Z in November 2023, over a period of three days. While processing the images, engineers increased the contrast between colors and set brightness similar to daytime on Earth. In fact, Mars is darker and redder than that.
Scientists have long suspected that there was water in the 250-meter-deep crater 3.5 billion years ago. Based on the recordings, scientists were also able to examine the rocks: flat, light-colored rocks were deposited on the banks of the slowly flowing river, while rocks farther away may have been carried there by the strong current.
