China’s Mars rover has yet to wake up from hibernation

China’s Mars rover Zhurong was supposed to wake up from hibernation at the end of December. But images from NASA show that the device has not moved for months.

The Chinese rover Zhurong has been traveling over Mars since May 2021. In May 2022, the first winter begins (a Martian year lasts about 687 Earth days). During the day it is about -20 ° C and at night up to -100 ° C. The systems in the rover work much less well. Moreover, due to many sand and dust storms, it is difficult to generate enough power via solar panels. Therefore, Zhurong went into a planned hibernation.

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Rover is still standing next to the crater

Spring on Mars began at the end of December, and the Zurong River was supposed to wake up on its own. But images from NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter — a space probe that studies the planet’s climate — show the rover has been stationary since September.

The composite image below shows three images of the same area. The left image was taken on March 11, 2022, the middle image on September 8, 2022, and the right image on February 7, 2023. Zhurong can be seen in the first image as a blue-green dot at the top left. In September – even during the Martian winter – the rover will be next to a crater. Five months later, when spring comes again, he’s still there.

Sandstorm problems

Zhurong was part of the Tianwen-1 mission, which was intended to study the geology, atmosphere, minerals, and elements of Mars. Originally, the rover was supposed to be active for 90 Martian days (about 24 hours, 37 minutes each). So it’s great that it lasted this long.

In January, an anonymous source reported Southern China Morning Post He had had no contact with Zhurong for some time. There may be so much sand and dust on the solar panels due to winter storms that the camper can no longer generate power. However, the Chinese National Space Agency has not yet commented on the situation.

NASA rovers will survive the winter

NASA also has two Mars rovers: Curiosity and Perseverance. These do not use solar panels, but a Radioisotope Power System (RPS). The heat released during the decay of radioactive plutonium-238 at RPS is converted into electricity and keeps the systems at the proper temperature. This will provide the NASA spacecraft with power for years to come. Therefore, both devices survived the winter.

sources: University of ArizonaAnd NASAAnd gizmodo

open image: China News ServiceAnd CC BY 3.0