China’s Zhurong Mars Rover Possibly Missing in Action — What Happened?

Something isn't quite right about China's Mars rover.

The country's space agency recently celebrated the second anniversary of its first interplanetary mission in Mars' orbit, but it didn't give an update about the mission's rover, per Space.com.

China sent its Mars rover to the Red Planet aboard its Tianwen 1 spacecraft on July 23, 2020, and had it land on its surface in May 2021, per the Universities Space Research Association.

China's Zhurong Rover Status Details

China's Zhuring Mars rover has not been heard of for quite some time. According to Space.com, the rover entered hibernation in May 2022 due to declining available solar power during winter in Mars' northern hemisphere.

Although the rover was meant to wake up from its hibernation in December 2022, around the time of Mars' spring equinox, China and its space authorities have since remained silent about Zhurong's status and condition.

Interestingly, China's Tianwen 1 spacecraft had reportedly experienced a communications glitch preventing it from calling home, per an earlier Space News article citing a South China Morning Post report.

China's National Space Administration mentioned that its Tianwen 1 spacecraft was "in good condition" and would continue to perform multiple tasks related to Mars, per Chinese state media Xinhua.

However, it only made passing remarks about its Zhurong Mars rover, with the space agency recounting its landing on Mars and its communications with Tianwen 1 for nearly six months.

The space agency never mentioned Zhurong again.

The last time the public heard detailed information about the Zhurong Mars Rover was in late October, a month after it lost communications with Tianwen 1 during the solar conjunction, per Xinhua. Experts received a signal from the rover 400 million kilometers away, stating it is in normal condition.

Zhurong was meant to autonomously wake up from its hibernation when its key components reached a temperature of greater than five degrees Fahrenheit and energy generation of greater than 140 watts. Though it doesn't carry a radioisotope heart unit like other rovers, Zhurong has a pair of n-undecane windows to store heat energy.

This chemical is said to melt and absorb heat during the day while it solidifies and releases at night, per Chinese state media.

As to why Zhurong hasn't sent a signal, nobody knows. However, dust storms in the Utopia Planitia region of the Red Planet may have impacted the rover's ability to generate heat and light, which could explain Zhurong's silence, per CNET.

Zhurong Mars Rover History

China's Zhurong spacecraft landed in Mars' northern hemisphere on May 15, 2021, per Nature.com. During its explorations, it traveled nearly two kilometers from its landing site in a year, exceeding its original three-month mission goal.

The rover helped experts discover evidence of liquid water being on Mars in May 2022, per CNN, while also unearthing hints of catastrophic floods that happened on the Red Planet in the past in late September 2022.