By 
May 6th, 2022
Dusty Zhurong rover.
Credit: CNSA
China’s Zhurong Mars rover is ready for the upcoming cold season on the Red Planet.
In the northern part on Mars, the Zhurong rover is entering winter, with the coldest period expected to come in July.
The highest temperature of the spot where Zhurong is located at noon has dropped to 20 degrees Celsius below zero, and the ambient temperature at night has dropped below 100 degrees Celsius below zero.
Dusty weather on Mars also brought impact on the power generation capacity of the solar wing batteries of the rover.
Lander and Zhurong Mars rover.
Credit: CNSA/Inside Outer Space screengrab
Solar wing adjustment
The Zhurong engineering team has adjusted the angle of the solar wings on the rover and reduced mission and working hours of the device to balance the energy usage amid low temperature and dusty weather.
“At present, the main power acquisition, storage and supply of the rover have met the expectations of our original design. For the subsequent harsh winter, we’ve also made some corresponding plans and tailored schemes,” Zhang Rongqiao, chief designer of China’s first Mars exploration mission Tianwen-1, told China Central Television (CCTV).
Credit: CCTV/Inside Outer Space screengrab
To ensure safe operation amid cold and dusty weather on Mars, the design team has set automatic sleep mode on the rover, under which the rover will enter sleep mode when the energy is dropped to a given point and the rover will return to normal operation when the environment turns better.
Scientific data
The Tianwen-1 orbiter and Zhurong rover have obtained about 940GB of original scientific data.
During its orbit around Mars, all seven payloads carried by China’s Tianwen-1 orbiter have been carrying out remote sensing exploration of Mars.
Tianwen-1 Mars orbiter.
Credit: CNSA
According to CCTV, a medium-resolution camera captured an image of Mariner Valley on Mars on April 1 with a resolution of about 65 meters per pixel, and the high-resolution camera captured images of Triolet crater on Mars on April 17 at a resolution of about 0.8 meter per pixel.
As of Thursday, Tianwen-1 has been in orbit for 651 days; the Zhurong rover has been operating on the surface of Mars for 347 days, travelling over 6,300 feet (1,921 meters).
Go to this informative video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5ah4UajyI0
Posted in Space News
