Categories: Science

NASA Images Confirm China’s Zhurong Mars Rover Hasn’t Budged in Months

Hello, Zhurong rover and Tianwen-1 lander. This selfie comes from a remote camera set on the surface of Mars.
CNSA

This story is part of Welcome to Mars, our series exploring the red planet.

Questions have swirled around the status of China’s charismatic Zhurong Mars rover. The solar-powered rover went into a hibernation state in May 2022 thanks to a dust storm and cold conditions. A sequence of images captured by NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter shows the rover hasn’t moved since at least early September 2022.   

The HiRise team at the University of Arizona shared three different views of Zhurong on Tuesday. Zhurong looks like a bluish dot to MRO’s HiRise camera. 

Enlarge Image

A series of three NASA MRO images from orbit show the bluish dot of the Zhurong rover. The first image is from March 2022, the second from September 2022 and the third from February 2023.


NASA/JPL-Caltech/UArizona

Landscape features like dunes and a crater appear in the surrounding area of Mars’ Utopia Planitia. The first image is from March 11, 2022, the second from Sept. 8, 2022 and the most recent from Feb. 7, 2023. The rover is in the same place in the last two images, which doesn’t bode well for its prospects.    

The China National Space Administration is famously secretive about its work, so official announcements about missions can be few and far between. CNSA hasn’t released any current updates on Zhurong.  

Mars pits: Gaze into the abyss with these wild NASA images


+16 more

See all photos

Zhurong arrived on Mars in May 2021 as part of the Tianwen-1 mission, which included a lander and an orbiter. China became only the second country to successfully operate a rover on Mars, putting it in good company with NASA’s rovers.

Martian conditions can be tough for robotic explorers, especially ones that rely on solar power. NASA’s InSight lander and Opportunity rover both reached the ends of their missions after dust caked their panels. It’s possible Zhurong has experienced a similar fate. Whatever happens, the rover still completed its main mission objectives and handily outlasted its original three-month life expectancy, cementing its legacy in the history of space exploration.

Share

Recent Posts

Feds mum on how Laken Riley’s killer got one-way plane ticket from migrant shelter ground zero

close Video Tom Homan wants all gov officials to listen to Laken Riley tapes: 'Shame…

2 hours ago

JonBenét Ramsey’s father ‘cautiously optimistic’ about finding his daughter’s killer: filmmaker

close Video John Ramsey announces plan to find daughter JonBenét’s killer FIRST ON FOX: JonBenet…

2 hours ago

Idaho woman, 18, arrested after dead infant found in Safe Haven Baby Box at a hospital

close Video Fox News Flash top headlines for November 23 Fox News Flash top headlines…

2 hours ago

Senate GOP motivated to rapidly confirm Trump nominations ahead of party trifecta in Washington

Senate Republicans have taken President-elect Donald Trump's cue and are prepping to fast-track his Cabinet…

2 hours ago

Calls for US to do more as antisemitic acts skyrocket in Europe: ‘enormously painful’

close Video Mark Levin asks 'where the hell is the outcry' from U.S. leaders against…

4 hours ago

Maryland man found guilty of killing girlfriend, unborn baby in county’s first-ever conviction of its kind

close Video Fox News Flash top headlines for November 23 Fox News Flash top headlines…

4 hours ago