NASA Mars Orbiter Reveals China's Zhurong Rover Has Not Moved For Months

Images from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter reveal that China's Zhurong rover remains stationary on the Red Planet as China remains silent on the status of its spacecraft. SpaceNews reports: The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera aboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) captured images of the rover on March 11, 2022, a second on Sept. 8, 2022 and finally Feb. 7, 2023. The images were published Feb. 21 by the HiRISE Operations Center The images show that the solar-powered Zhurong -- which landed in May 2021 -- has not moved since at least September 2022. It had entered a planned hibernation state in May 2022 to ride out the low solar radiation levels of winter in Mars's Utopia Planitia region. Zhurong was expected to autonomously resume activities around December, around the time of Spring solstice in the northern hemisphere, when temperatures and light levels reached levels allowing the rover's battery and solar arrays to generate sufficient electrical power. However Chinese space authorities have not provided an update on the status of the rover. The South China Morning Post reported Jan. 7, citing sources that do not wish to be named, that the mission team was yet to receive a signal from Zhurong. The progression of the HiRISE images suggest that Zhurong may have accumulated a covering of Martian dust on its surface. This could impact the function of both its solar arrays and the pair of "windows" which allow a chemical called n-undecane to store heat energy during the day and release it during the night. Zhurong does not carry a radioisotope heater unit -- which are used by the country's Yutu lunar rovers -- instead using systems including n-undecane for heating and a coating of aerogel for insulation.

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