Scientist Says China’s Mars Rover Could Remain Dormant

A Long March-5 rocket—carrying an orbiter, lander, and rover as part of the Tianwen-1 mission to Mars—lifts off from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Center in southern China's Hainan Province on July 23, 2020. Noel Celis/AFP via Getty Images

China’s first interplanetary rover, Zhurong, will likely stay dormant on Mars, a Chinese scientist said on state media CCTV on April 25.

Zhang Rongqiao, the chief scientist of China’s Mars mission, said that Zhurong has not moved due to a lack of solar power caused by a pile-up of sand and dust since it went into “hibernation” in May 2022.