China's Mars rover expected to resume work in December

China’s Mars rover Zhurong, currently in sleep mode, is expected to wake up automatically in December when its energy level hits over 140 watts and the temperature of components like the battery rise above minus 15 degrees Celsius, according to its research team.

Jia Yang, deputy chief designer of the Tianwen-1 Mars mission from the China Academy of Space Technology, said Zhurong will resume work once it has met these two specific conditions. He revealed the news at a science popularization event held in Beijing on Monday night.

After waking up, the Chinese rover will continue to head south to acquire more data on the planet, Jia added.

On May 18 this year, having traveled around 1,921.5 meters on the surface of Mars, Zhurong switched to dormant mode due to the chilly winter and dusty weather on the planet.

Source: Xinhua News Agency

Thanks for being here;

We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain.

With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook – our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don’t have a paywall – with those annoying usernames and passwords.

Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year.

If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.

SpaceDaily Contributor

$5 Billed Once

credit card or paypal

SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter
$5 Billed Monthly

paypal only

Searching for buried treasure on Mars with RIMFAX

Perseverance completes Mars Sample Depot

January 31, 2023

Dust bedevils Perseverance with damaging winds

January 29, 2023

NASA marks 25 years since Pathfinder touched down on Mars

Pasadena CA (JPL) Jul 28, 2022

When a daring team of engineers put a lander and the first rover on the Red Planet a quarter century ago, they changed how the world explores. On a July evening in 1997, Jennifer Trosper drove home from work at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory holding a picture of the Martian surface to her steering wheel. Earlier that day, the agency’s Pathfinder mission had landed on Mars encased in protective air bags and taken the image of the red, rubbly landscape that transfixed her.