New photos captured by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter revealed that China's Martian rover hasn't moved in months.
since then first popped up in early January. Now, it appears the rover may be done entirely.
The Zhurong rover was part of China’s first interplanetary mission, known as Tianwen-1. The mission launched to study the topography of the Martian surface. While China’s Martian rover completed its primary mission before its hibernation, the rover was set to continue additional missions in December. However, it has remained eerily quiet despite being designed to wake back up.
The dark blueish dot next to the crater in images two and three showcase the rover’s resting place. Image source: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UArizona The cause of the rover’s death is most likely to be attributed to sand-covered solar panels – a death that other Martian exploring spacecraft have suffered from in the past, including. While solar powered spacecraft have the potential to run forever, so long as the Sun is there to power them, China’s Martian rover appears to have befallen the same fate as other solar-powered spacecraft on Mars.
The photos that seem to seal the rover’s death were taken by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Three images which were taken throughout 2022 and 2023 show the rover moving into position near a crater on the Red Planet’s surface.
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