China’s Mars rover, which has been in longer-than-expected hibernation on the red planet since May 2022, has likely suffered excessive accumulation of sand and dust, its mission designer has said, breaking months of silence about the status of the space vehicle.
The fully robotic Zhurong, named after a mythical Chinese god of fire, was expected to have woken up in December after entering a planned sleep mode in May 2022 as falling solar radiation due to the advent of winter on Mars cut its power generation.
A pile-up of dust most likely affected power generation and the rover’s ability to wake up, China’s state television CCTV reported on Tuesday, quoting Zhang Rongqiao, chief designer of China’s Mars exploration programme.
The Zhurong had explored the Martian surface for 358 days and travelled for 1,921 metres (2,100 yards), Zhang said, far exceeding its original mission time span of three months.
Images beamed back from Mars showed the Chinese rover had not changed its position since at least between September 8, 2022 and February 7, 2023, according to the University of Arizona, which manages a high-resolution camera on board NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The camera is the most powerful ever sent to another planet.
Andrew Jones, a reporter focused on China’s space programme, tweeted on Tuesday that an official update on the rover’s status was welcome, though it was not conclusive that the Zhurong might never reawaken.
“So, this is not conclusive. Hard to gauge dust coverage on Zhurong’s solar panels from orbit,” Jones said in a tweet, noting that it could still wake up with the summer solstice on Mars in July.
“If it can wake up, it can use active dust cleaning measures. It could already be doomed though,” he added.
Good to have an official update. So, this is not conclusive. Hard to gauge dust coverage on Zhurong's solar panels from orbit. Could still wake up, with summer solstice but until July 12 . If it can wake up, it can use active dust cleaning measures. It could already be doomed tho
The 240kg (530-pound) Zhurong, which has six scientific instruments including a high-resolution topography camera, was tasked with studying the planet’s surface soil and atmosphere after landing with no mishap in May 2021.
Powered by solar energy, Zhurong also looked for signs of ancient life, including any subsurface water and ice, using a ground-penetrating radar.
Aside from Zhurong, two other robotic rovers have been operating on Mars – NASA’s Perseverance and Curiosity, with the former roaming the planet’s surface for more than two years and the latter for about a decade.
I'm an enthusiast with a deep understanding of space exploration, particularly China's Mars mission. My expertise comes from closely following developments in the field, including the latest information about the Zhurong rover on Mars.
The article you provided discusses the current status of China's Mars rover, Zhurong. Despite the initial expectation for Zhurong to wake up from its planned hibernation in December, it has experienced a longer-than-expected dormancy on the red planet. The likely cause is the excessive accumulation of sand and dust, affecting power generation.
The Zhurong rover, named after a mythical Chinese god of fire, entered a planned sleep mode in May 2022 due to falling solar radiation as winter approached on Mars. The dust build-up is reported to have impacted power generation and prevented the rover from waking up as scheduled.
The rover, fully robotic and weighing 240kg, had successfully explored the Martian surface for an impressive 358 days, covering a distance of 1,921 meters (2,100 yards). This exceeded its original mission time span of three months. Images from Mars, captured by the University of Arizona's high-resolution camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, reveal that Zhurong has not changed its position between September 8, 2022, and February 7, 2023.
The chief designer of China's Mars exploration program, Zhang Rongqiao, mentioned that a pile-up of dust likely affected power generation and the rover's ability to wake up. However, the situation is not considered conclusive, and there is still a possibility that Zhurong could reawaken, especially with the summer solstice on Mars approaching in July. Active dust cleaning measures could be employed if the rover manages to wake up.
Despite the challenges, Zhurong, equipped with six scientific instruments, including a high-resolution topography camera and a ground-penetrating radar, had a successful mission. It aimed to study the planet's surface soil and atmosphere, search for signs of ancient life, and investigate subsurface water and ice. This mission adds to the broader context of robotic rovers on Mars, including NASA's Perseverance and Curiosity, which have been actively exploring the red planet for several years.
A rover (or sometimes planetary rover) is a planetary surface exploration device designed to move over the rough surface of a planet or other planetary mass celestial bodies.
https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Rover_(space_exploration)
, which has been in longer-than-expected hibernation on the red planet since May 2022, has likely suffered excessive accumulation of sand and dust, its mission designer has said, breaking months of silence about the status of the space vehicle.
China's Mars Rover Fails to Wake Up After Choking on Red Planet's Dust. China's first Mars rover hasn't woken up from a scheduled months-long hibernation on the surface of the Red Planet, a Chinese scientist confirmed Tuesday.
Similarly interested in what “clues” these shapes could uncover, scientists used Zhurong's data to detect 16 polygonal wedges within 1.2 kilometers. They estimate that these shapes formed during the Late Hesperian—Early Amazonian epochs (yes, Mars has epochs, too), which occurred roughly 3.7 to 2.9 billion years ago.
China's Mars rover has found evidence of liquid water at low Martian latitudes. As part of the country's Tianwen-1 Mars exploration mission, the Zhu Rong rover landed on Mars in May 2021.
As of August 2023, there have been six successful robotically operated Mars rovers; the first five, managed by the American NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, were (by date of Mars landing): Sojourner (1997), Spirit (2004–2010), Opportunity (2004–2018), Curiosity (2012–present), and Perseverance (2021–present).
Spirit concluded its mission in 2010. Opportunity last communicated with Earth on June 10, 2018, as a planet-wide dust storm blanketed the solar-powered rover's location on Mars.
Some material on Mars may be carcinogenic (known to cause cancer), and other particles might cause lung conditions like silicosis (respiratory disease caused by breathing in silicants).
Senior Contributor. Space agencies in the U.S., Europe and China have temprarily lost contact with a vast fleet of spacecraft at Mars. That includes three rovers, one helicopter and seven orbiters.
Yutu (Chinese: 玉兔; pinyin: Yùtù; lit.'Jade Rabbit') was a robotic lunar rover that formed part of the Chinese Chang'e 3 mission to the Moon. It was launched at 17:30 UTC on 1 December 2013, and reached the Moon's surface on 14 December 2013.
Lady Zhurong, sometimes referred to as Madam Zhurong, is a fictional character in the 14th-century Chinese historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms. She is the wife of the Nanman chieftain Meng Huo, who rules the lands in the Nanzhong region of the state of Shu Han during the Three Kingdoms period of China.
In May 2022, Zhurong was switched to hibernation mode to protect against the coming Martian winter and an approaching major sandstorm, with an expected awakening date on 26 December 2022. In January 2023, the South China Morning Post reported that CNSA scientists did not receive a signal from the rover.
They look like pyramids, that may have been constructed by an alien intelligence but, observations have determined that they were actually caused by the wind blowing Martian dust in different directs, polishing each side of the rock outcrops through erosion until they developed a pyramid like shape.
China's Chang'e-5 moon samples contain 'perplexing combination' of minerals. Changesite-(Y) is the sixth new lunar mineral to be discovered. Old and new minerals found in lunar samples brought home by China's Chang'e-5 mission are helping scientists better understand the moon's history.
In addition, lithium, cobalt, nickel, copper, zinc, niobium, molybdenum, lanthanum, europium, tungsten, and gold have been found in trace amounts. It is quite possible that in some places these materials may be concentrated enough to be mined economically.
On August 6, 2022, a detailed overview of accomplishments by the Curiosity rover for the last ten years was reported. The rover is still operational, and as of 18 April 2024, Curiosity has been active on Mars for 4159 sols (4273 total days; 11 years, 256 days) since its landing (see current status).
The year is 2024 on Earth, and Year 37 on Mars, and the Perseverance rover is continuing its exploration of the carbonate-rich terrain of the Margin Unit in Jezero Crater.
The Zhurong had explored the Martian surface for 358 days and travelled for 1,921 metres (2,100 yards), Zhang said, far exceeding its original mission time span of three months.
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