"That" reference to modified nouns

[AbhishekD643]

Hi Experts,

I have a small query regarding the usage of "that". Can you tell me if the below usage is correct:

The Martian surface is like that of the Moon

I feel that the "that" refers to "Martian surface" than simply "surface", therefore this seems wrong to me. Am I correct?

If I could re-phrase such a structure, I would write:
The surface of mars is like that of the moon

Is the above one correct? Or, is it more preferable?

Thank you

[RonPurewal]

both of those are fine.

the point of "that"/"those" is to refer to nouns WITHOUT all of the attached modifiers/adjectives/descriptors.