Exploring the subsurface structure and stratification of Mars advances our understanding of Martian geology, hydrological evolution and palaeoclimatic changes, and has been a main task for past and continuing Mars exploration missions^1–10. Utopia Planitia, the smooth plains of volcanic and sedimentary strata that infilled the Utopia impact crater, has been a prime target for such exploration as it is inferred to have hosted an ancient ocean on Mars^11–13. However, 45 years have passed since Viking-2 provided ground-based detection results. Here we report an in situ ground-penetrating radar survey of Martian subsurface structure in a southern marginal area of Utopia Planitia conducted by the Zhurong rover of the Tianwen-1 mission. A detailed subsurface image profile is constructed along the roughly 1,171 m traverse of the rover, showing an approximately 70-m-thick, multi-layered structure below a less than 10-m-thick regolith. Although alternative models deserve further scrutiny, the new radar image suggests the occurrence of episodic hydraulic flooding sedimentation that is interpreted to represent the basin infilling of Utopia Planitia during the Late Hesperian to Amazonian. While no direct evidence for the existence of liquid water was found within the radar detection depth range, we cannot rule out the presence of saline ice in the subsurface of the landing area.

The Chang'E‐3 lunar penetrating radar (LPR) observations at 500 MHz reveal four major stratigraphic zones from the surface to a depth of ~20 m along the survey line: a layered reworked zone (<1 m), an ejecta layer (~2–6 m), a paleoregolith layer (~4–11 m), and the underlying mare basalts. The reworked zone has two to five distinct layers and consists of surface regolith. The paleoregolith buried by the ejecta from a 500 m crater is relatively homogenous and contains only a few rocks. Population of buried rocks increases with depth to ~2 m at first, and then decreases with depth, representing a balance between initial deposition of the ejecta and later turnover of the regolith. Combining with the surface age, the LPR observations indicate a mean accumulation rate of about 5–10 m/Gyr for the surface regolith, which is at least 4–8 times larger than previous estimation.

In an attempt to reduce the ambiguity on radar detection of water ice at the permanently shadowed regions near the lunar poles, radar echo strength and circular polarization ratio (CPR) of impact craters are analyzed using the Miniature Radio Frequency (Mini‐RF) radar data from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter mission. Eight typical craters, among over 70 craters, are selected and classified into four categories based on their locations and CPR characteristics: polar anomalous, polar fresh, nonpolar anomalous, and nonpolar fresh. The influences on CPR caused by surface slope, rocks, and dielectric constant are analyzed quantitatively using high‐resolution topography data and optical images. A two‐component mixed model for CPR that consists of a normal surface and a rocky surface is developed to study the effect of rocks that are perched on lunar surface and buried in regolith. Our analyses show that inner wall of a typical bowl‐shaped crater can give rise to a change of about 30° in local incidence angle of radar wave, which can further result in a CPR difference of about 0.2. There is a strong correlation between Mini‐RF CPR and rock abundance that is obtained from high‐resolution optical images, and predictions from the two‐component mixed model match well with the observed CPRs and the estimated rock abundances. Statistical results show that there is almost no apparent difference in CPR characteristics between the polar and nonpolar anomalous craters, or between the polar and nonpolar fresh craters. The enhanced CPR in the interior of anomalous craters is most probably caused by rocks that are perched on lunar surface or buried in regolith, instead of ice deposits as suggested in previous studies.