For a long time, China did not provide information on the status of the Zhuzhong rover mission. to such results to come space.com version.
In 2020, China launched the Tianwen-1 mission to Mars and entered the planet’s orbit on February 10, 2021. In addition to the orbiter, it included the Zhuzhong rover, which made a soft landing and then transmitted several frames. Little has been heard of the rover since then, but this is easily explained by the general closeness of the Chinese space program.
American journalists noted that on February 10, Chinese state media published materials commemorating the second anniversary of the spacecraft’s entry into Mars orbit. They listed the achievements of the Tianwen-1 mission, but Zhuzhong was hardly mentioned – at first glance, the device was more interesting to the general public. It is recorded that the rover entered sleep mode in May 2022 due to the decrease in the amount of usable solar energy caused by the winter season in the northern hemisphere of Mars. Zhurong was expected to wake up during the spring equinox in December, but Chinese and space officials have remained silent about the rover’s condition.
According to the mission design, the Zhurong will wake up on its own if two conditions are met: a temperature above -15 degrees Celsius and a power output of more than 140 watts. Also, unlike Curiosity and Perseverance, the Chinese device does not have radioisotope heaters and therefore has to rely on chemical methods to retain heat with a limited power reserve. Observers believe dust storms on the Plain of Utopia may have affected the rover’s ability to generate heat.
At the same time, the orbiter performs its tasks in normal mode, despite possible problems with the rover.