![cover image](https://wikiwandv2-19431.kxcdn.com/_next/image?url=https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3e/Zhurong-with-lander-selfie.png/640px-Zhurong-with-lander-selfie.png&w=640&q=50)
Zhurong (rover)
Chinese rover on Mars / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Zhurong (Chinese: 祝融; pinyin: Zhùróng) is a Chinese rover on Mars, the country's first to land on another planet after it previously landed two rovers on the Moon. The rover is part of the Tianwen-1 mission to Mars conducted by the China National Space Administration (CNSA).
Zhurong | |
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祝融 | |
Part of Tianwen-1 | |
![]() Zhurong selfie with lander, taken by the deployable Tianwen-1 remote camera. | |
Type | Mars rover |
Eponym | Zhurong |
Owner | CNSA |
Manufacturer | China Academy of Space Technology |
Specifications | |
Dimensions | 2.6 m × 3 m × 1.85 m (8 ft 6 in × 9 ft 10 in × 6 ft 1 in) |
Launch mass | 240 kilograms (530 lb) |
Power | Solar arrays |
Rocket | Long March 5 |
Instruments | |
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History | |
Launched |
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Deployed |
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Location | 25.102°N 109.914°E / 25.102; 109.914 (Zhurong rover)[1] Utopia Planitia, Mars |
Travelled | 1.921 km (1.194 mi) on Mars as of 5 May 2022[update][2] |
The spacecraft was launched on 23 July 2020 and inserted into Martian orbit on 10 February 2021. The lander, carrying the rover, performed a soft landing on Mars on 14 May 2021,[3] making China the third country to successfully soft-land a spacecraft on Mars and the second one to deploy a rover on Mars, after the United States.[4][N 1] Zhurong was deployed on 22 May 2021, 02:40 UTC.[6]
Designed for a lifespan of 90 sols (93 Earth days),[7] Zhurong was active for more than 347 sols (358 days) after its deployment on Mars's surface.[8][9] The rover became inactive on 20 May 2022 due to approaching sandstorms and Martian winter, pending its self-awakening with appropriate temperature and sunlight conditions.[10][11]
Zhurong was expected to wake up in December 2022[12] but never did due to excessive dust accumulation, according to the rover's chief designer.[13]