China’s Mars rover may have stalled, but scientists using data from the mission still hope the vehicle can be reactivated and explore again.
Zhurong, which is part of China Tianwen 1 Mars mission, landed on Utopia Planitia in May 2021. The rover entered dormant mode in May 2022, effectively allowing it to hibernate during winter in the planet’s northern hemisphere.
It should automatically continue the activities of December last year, during the Mars‘ northern spring equinox, when temperatures and lighting conditions are more favorable for solar-powered vehicles. That didn’t happen.
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However, Yi Xu, an associate professor at the Space Science Institute at Macau University of Science and Technology, said (opens in new tab) VICE World News Zhurong may still have hope.
China did not comment in Zhurong’s status, but images from NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) confirms that the rover remained stationary for a while.
The MRO images show that “it’s covered in sand and dust, so the ability to convert sunlight into electricity is definitely going to hurt,” Xu said.
“We have to wait, because now it’s spring, and later, that’s the summer season on Mars. Then it should receive more sunlight and the temperature also rises,” said Yi. “Once the battery is fully charged, the rover or the instrument can work again.”
Zhurong has an active method of cleaning its solar arrays, but its period of inactivity in an area prone to dust storms seems to have affected its ability to generate electricity and retain heat. Zhurong does not have a radioisotope heater unit, like other rovers including China Yutu moon explorerbut instead has a pair of “windows” that allow a chemical called n-undecane to store heat energy.
The rover is expected to wake up autonomously when two conditions are met. These are the main components that reach temperatures of more than 5 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 15 degrees Celsius) and generate energy of more than 140 watts.
Xu is a co-author of a recent paper that used data from Zhurong’s ground-penetrating radar to build a picture of the layers just below the Martian surface and reveal complex layering.
Whether Zhurong rose or not, the mission had already exceeded its planned life of three Earth months. The rover, like its companion Tianwen 1 orbiter, also completed its main goal of science.
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