China plans to complete a geological map of the entire planet Mars by the end of 2028, according to TV BRICS, a NAN partner.
Hou Zengqian, an academician at the Chinese Academy of Sciences and chief scientist of the Tianwen-3 mission, spoke about the plans.
According to him, based on the new data, experts will develop a Chinese system for Mars’s geological periodisation.
Research by the Zhurong rover has shown that around 3.5 billion years ago, an ancient ocean of continental scale existed on Mars.
Scientists have also discovered evidence of a possible short-lived flood that may have occurred around 1.6 billion years ago.
This data will be used in the compilation of the new map.
Artificial intelligence will also be used to create the map. It will help analyse remote sensing data and identify the planet’s geological features.
By the end of 2028, experts expect to have produced a global geological map of Mars at a scale of 1:5 million.
They also expect to have produced maps of the landing sites at a scale of 1:50,000, and a series of specialised atlases.
There are plans to use the methodology developed for mapping the Moon, Venus and asteroids in the future.
The Tianwen-3 mission, whose primary objective will be to explore Mars, is scheduled for 2028.
Edited by Hadiza Mohammed-Aliyu
Source: News Agency of Nigeria
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