About a yr ago , China ’s Zhurong rover hunker down down on the Martian control surface to ward off the abrasive wintertime time of year on the dusty planet . Regrettably , Zhurong has so farfailed to revive itself from hibernation mode . A mission designer recently revealed that an accumulation of dust on the rover ’s solar panels may be the reason for its unresponsive state .
“ We have not had any communicating from the wanderer since it enter hibernation , ” Zhang Rongqiao , chief graphic designer of China ’s Mars exploration program , told China ’s state - own CCTV , as describe byReuters . “ We are monitor it every twenty-four hour period and believe it has not awaken up because the sun has not yet reached the minimum stage for power multiplication . ”
Zhurong went into hibernation mode in May 2022 and was schedule to wake up in late December . In February , NASA ’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter capture images of the rover over meter , uncover that theMartian robot had not moved from its same spotsince it fit into its blue business leader safe manner . The Taiwanese space federal agency , however , had not shared any updates on the rover until the late interview with Rongqiao .
The Chinese rover snapped a selfie on Mars next to its lander shortly after arriving at the Red Planet.Image: China National Space Administration
The winter time of year on Mars also include sand and debris storms , which block the rover ’s solar panels and forbid it from collecting sunlight to generate index . That ’s why Zhurong went into hibernation , but the Martian dust may have still managed to halt the rover ’s solar panels and prevent it from pass away its safe fashion . The two other rover currently roaming Mars , NASA ’s Curiosity and Perseverance , are able to power through Mars ’s winter time of year using aradioisotope power system .
Zhurong landed on Mars on May 14 , 2021 as China ’s first Martian missionary work . The rover was send to Mars with the Tianwen-1 orbiter , which relay information between the scouter and ground accountant on Earth . The rover was originally set to pass just 90 days exploring the Martian terrain but has far surpassed its initial timeline .
It ’s not yet clean-cut whether Zhurong will be able to generate enough baron to fire up up from its hibernation or if the rover is doom to its unresponsive low - power land .
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