The solar panels of China’s first Mars rover “Zhurong” are believed to be thickly covered with sand and dust after winter on the red planet. That could be why the vehicle has not yet woken up from its “sleep mode”.
After “Zhurong” was expected to restart four months ago, the program’s chief designer Zhang Rongqiao said on Tuesday that power production would not be sufficient if the solar panels contained 20 percent more dust than originally planned in construction.
If even 30 percent is exceeded, the required power capacity cannot be reached again until the sun is at its strongest, says Zhang Rongqiao. “If the level of the dust cover exceeds 40 percent of our capacity, the rover will never wake up.”
Overwintered in May 2022
Named after the Chinese god of fire, the rover was retired in May 2022 due to the cold, dusty winter on the red planet. Although “Zhurong” was expected to wake up in December, there was no sign of life. The rover would wake up automatically when the power level reaches more than 140 watts and the temperature of the battery rises above minus 15 degrees Celsius.
Zhurong landed on Mars in May 2021 in the Utopia Planitia region. The flight makes China the second spacefaring nation after the United States to successfully deploy a reconnaissance vehicle to the Red Planet and the first country to move a vehicle on its surface in its maiden flight to Mars.
In operation for three months longer than planned
The mission is already considered a great success as all planned projects have been carried out. The rover traversed the surface of Mars for nearly two kilometers, accumulating much scientific knowledge, finding traces of former water resources and operating for three months longer than originally planned.
Source: Krone
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