China’s Mars rover failed to wake from slumber
The images released Tuesday were captured by the HiRISE camera aboard NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. In the photo below, there are three scenes next to each other, and they consist of images from March 11, 2022, September 8, 2022 and February 7, 2023, respectively. China put the vehicle into hibernation mode in May 2022 and said it would wake up in late December with the start of the Martian spring.
On the other hand, NASA’s Curiosity and Perseverance instruments can also generate power during the Martian winter using a radioisotope power system. There is no nuclear radioisotope power unit inside Zhurong. So the only way for energy is solar panels.
China’s Zhurong vehicle is part of the country’s first interplanetary mission, Tianwen-1. With the mission launched in 2020, the data transmission satellite Tianwen-1 was first placed in orbit of the planet. Then, leaving the orbiting vehicle, Zhurong landed in the Utopia Planitia region of Mars and started exploration work. The vehicle traveled 1,921 meters before falling asleep.