Jakarta –
Nearly two years after landing on Marsrover Zhurong owned by China his fate is still unknown. Spacecraft NASA those on Mars shed some light on the rover’s fate.
The University of Arizona, which manages the HiRISE camera on NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, has just posted a new photo showing the Zhurong rover from the sky. This photo was taken on February 7, 2023 from an altitude of 286 km.
The three photos put together were taken between 2022 and 2023. In the first photo, the bluish Zhurong rover is seen at the top of a crater. Meanwhile, the second photo shows the Zhurong rover moving to the bottom near the crater.
But in the third photo, the Zhurong rover doesn’t move. The University of Arizona concluded that the rover did not move between September 8, 2022 and February 7, 2023, as quoted by Space, Sunday (26/2/2023).
Zhurong first landed on Mars in May 2021 as part of the Tianwen-1 mission. The rover enters hibernation in May 2022 to brave the extreme Martian winter.
The control center at the China National Space Administration (CNSA) predicts the Zhurong rover will wake from hibernation in December 2022, ahead of spring on Mars. However, CNSA still has not provided an update on Zhurong’s condition.
In January 2023, the South China Morning Post reported that Zhurong was still out of touch and had not communicated with the control center on Earth. Several factors made it difficult for Zhurong to get back up, including the dust-covered solar panels and the still freezing cold.
But these two problems can only be overcome following the conditions in Mars. Strong winds such as ‘dust devils’ or storms can blow away dust and dirt covering solar panels, and temperatures on Mars can start to warm.
Even if Zhurong can’t get up again, at least this rover has succeeded in carrying out its mission. Initially only targeted to operate for three months, the Zhurong rover successfully completed a one-year mission on Mars.
Watch Video “First Chinese Robot on Mars Reportedly Lost Contact“
(vmp/rns)
