Zhurong has died

[TruthSeeker]

NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter confirms that China's Zhurong rover has been stationary for months​

By Stefanie Waldek
published about 3 hours ago
The rover entered hibernation in May 2022, and there's reason to believe it hasn't woken up.

NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter confirms that China's Zhurong rover has been stationary for months

The rover entered hibernation in May 2022, and there's reason to believe it hasn't woken up.

www.space.com

This cutout is from three images acquired in 2022 and 2023. The rover is the dark and relatively bluish feature visible in the upper middle of the first (left) image and lower middle of the other two images. This time series shows that the rover has not changed its position between Sept. 8, 2022 and Feb. 7, 2023. (Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UArizona)
On Feb. 10, China's Tianwen 1 mission — the country's first interplanetary mission — celebrated its second anniversary in Mars orbit. But one major piece of the mission, the Zhurong rover, seems to have stalled, and there's now photo evidence of its stationary state.

Zhurong entered a planned hibernation in May 2022 to ride out the dark and cold Martian winter, as the rover relies on solar energy for power and heat. Its controllers at the China National Space Administration (CNSA) anticipated a wake-up in December as the light returned in Martian spring, but the agency has not yet provided any updates about Zhurong.
New images(opens in new tab) released Tuesday (Feb. 21) by the University of Arizona, which manages the HiRISE camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, show that Zhurong did not move between Sept. 7, 2022, and Feb. 8, 2023, further suggesting that the rover has not yet awoken from hibernation.
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In January, the South China Morning Post reported that the rover had not yet re-established communications with mission control. There are many reasons that the rover might remain in hibernation. Dust might have accumulated on Zhurong's solar panels, reducing their efficiency. And data from NASA's Perseverance rover, a nuclear-powered spacecraft that can operate through winter, suggests that Mars is still quite cold — potentially below Zhurong's operating levels.

Tianwen 1 mission deputy chief designer Jia Yang told reporters in September 2022 that in order for Zhurong to wake up from hibernation, the rover must reach a temperature of 5 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 15 degrees Celsius) and generate at least 140 watts of energy.
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Both scenarios can be remedied by conditions on Mars — a dust devil or wind storm could clear the solar panels, as happened with NASA's Spirit rover in 2005, and the planet could warm up as the year progresses.
And if Zhurong is in for a permanent sleep, all is not lost: The rover has successfully completed its original mission, which was intended to last just three months on the Martian surface. In total, Zhurong successfully completed a year of operations, which is no small feat. In September 2022, the rover's mission was presented with the International Astronautical Federation's annual space achievement award.
Follow Stefanie Waldek on Twitter @StefanieWaldek(opens in new tab). Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom(opens in new tab) and on Facebook(opens in new tab).

 

[REhorror]

RIP!

He has finished his journey. Maybe the chinese can recover him during the Mars mission.

 

[Hamartia Antidote]

NASA Mars orbiter reveals China’s Zhurong rover has not moved for months

NASA Mars orbiter reveals China’s Zhurong rover has not moved for months NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter reveals that China’s Zhurong rover remains stationary on the Red Planet with its status unknown.

spacenews.com

NASA Mars orbiter reveals China’s Zhurong rover has not moved for months​

A cutout of three images acquired in 2022 and 2023 by MRO/HiRISE showing China's Zhurong rover as a dark and bluish feature. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UArizona

HELSINKI — 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.

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 equinox 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.

NASA’s Spirit rover in 2005 fortuitously encountered a dust devil that cleaned the solar panels of the spacecraft, improving its power generation. Such phenomena, along with improving solar radiation levels as summer approaches in the northern hemisphere, mean there could still be some hope of Zhurong reactivating.

MRO/HiRISE has previously imaged Zhurong on the surface, showing its landing area and shown tracks matching those of Chinese Zhurong drive maps.

Zhurong is part of the successful Tianwen-1 mission which launched in July 2020 as China’s first independent interplanetary exploration expedition. The mission put the Tianwen-1 spacecraft in orbit around Mars and later saw Zhurong land in Utopia Planitia after a campaign to image and assess the target landing area.

Tianwen-1 saw China join the U.S., Soviet Union/Russia, the European Space Agency, India and the United Arab Emirates in successfully putting a spacecraft into orbit around Mars. The Zhurong rover made China the second country to successfully operate a rover on the Red Planet.

Zhurong had a primary mission lifetime of three Earth months but operated for just over one Earth year on the Martian surface before entering hibernation. It traveled at least 1,921 meters south from its landing site.

It had achieved its primary science objectives and was seeking out geomorphologic targets such as mud volcanoes during its extended mission.

Meanwhile the Tianwen-1 orbiter, which entered orbit around Mars two years ago Feb. 10, was operating well as of Jan. 10 according to the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology (SAST), having also completed its primary science objectives.

Chinese state media published articles to mark the anniversary of the orbital insertion but did not touch on the current status of Zhurong. Tianwen-1 is expected to conduct aerobraking tests as part of preparation for a Mars sample return mission potentially launching later this decade.

---

 

[epebble]

There are many reasons that the rover might remain in hibernation. Dust might have accumulated on Zhurong's solar panels, reducing their efficiency. And data from NASA's Perseverance rover, a nuclear-powered spacecraft that can operate through winter, suggests that Mars is still quite cold — potentially below Zhurong's operating levels.

Tianwen 1 mission deputy chief designer Jia Yang told reporters in September 2022 that in order for Zhurong to wake up from hibernation, the rover must reach a temperature of 5 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 15 degrees Celsius) and generate at least 140 watts of energy.

So, it just might resurrect itself if the temperature goes above -15 C and a strong wind blows away the dust. I am having problems with my van and car even above -5 C right here in Portland, Oregon now.

 

[TruthSeeker]

So, it just might resurrect itself if the temperature goes above -15 C.

epebble, sir,
Your optimism is to be admired in this cold dark world of ours. However, Zhurong is a Marxist-Mao rover, an unbeliever in every faith. Resurrection is not in the cards for the poor thing.

 

[+4vsgorillas-Apebane]

epebble, sir,
Your optimism is to be admired in this cold dark world of ours. However, Zhurong is a Marxist-Mao rover, an unbeliever in every faith. Resurrection is not in the cards for the poor thing.

It is cold hard science that will determine whether the rover will reawaken or not. Nil assistance required from some magical being who lives in the sky.

 

[TruthSeeker]

It is cold hard science that will determine whether the rover will reawaken or not. Nil assistance required from some magical being who lives in the sky.

Sir, the magical being who lives in the sky determines cold hard science, including whether or not to reawaken the robot given existence by CCP unbelievers. Try as you might, Zhurong, you, and the CCP, cannot escape the ultimate "determinations" of the magical being who lives in the sky.

 

[+4vsgorillas-Apebane]

Sir, the magical being who lives in the sky determines cold hard science, including whether or not to reawaken the robot given existence by CCP unbelievers. Try as you might, Zhurong, you, and the CCP, cannot escape the ultimate "determinations" of the magical being who lives in the sky.

The magical being is so wise and powerful that his solution to a world ending flood is to build a wooden boat and then repopulate the world through incest. Cant beat someone that smart.


The CCP is a continuation of the Chinese state, which far precedes the religions of today. When these religions fade into obscurity, the Chinese will remain.

 

[epebble]

repopulate the world through incest.

Some prefer that to monkeys doing the nasties in Africa. (Though personally I don't mind being called the result of monkey nasty).

 

[Hamartia Antidote]

The Ingenuity helicopter is still flying and sending back pictures.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1635342226598563840

But every flight is just another opportunity to crash. At 47 flights (way beyond its design) looking to hit 50.

 

[F-22Raptor]

The Ingenuity helicopter is still flying and sending back pictures.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1635342226598563840

It’s amazing Ingenuity has survived this long

 

[Hamartia Antidote]

Dust on panels..same ending fate as Spirit in 2004-2011 and Opportunity in 2004-2018.

China finally admits its hibernating Mars rover may never wake up

The Zhurong Mars rover never woke up from a planned hibernation, and the head of the mission team has now revealed why.

www.yahoo.com

China finally admits its hibernating Mars rover may never wake up​

Zhurong, China's first Mars rover, is likely covered in dust, coating its solar panels and making it impossible to generate enough power to wake up from a planned hibernation, Zhang Rongqiao, chief designer of China's Mars exploration program, told China's state television CCTV