Summary: <ul> <li>China's first Mars rover, Zhurong, has not moved since September, according to NASA imagery released last month.</li> <li>Zhurong went into hibernation on May 18, 2022, to survive Mars' harsh winter and was expected to wake up around December.</li> <li>The rover remains stationary due to sand and dust covering its solar panels, which reduces its ability to transform sunlight into electricity.</li> <li>Chinese scientists are waiting for a signal from the rover, and sandstorms have hampered its ability to generate power.</li> <li>Zhurong's mission objectives include searching for evidence of water on Mars and investigating the planet's surface composition, regolith characteristics, and water-ice distribution.</li> <li>The rover is considered to have fulfilled its mission with an expected lifespan of 90 days.</li> <li>This is not the first time Zhurong has gone quiet; it lost contact with Earth for a month during a solar conjunction in October 2021.</li> <li>The China National Space Administration has not released any information on the current status of the rover.</li> </ul> <p>Join us on the Space News Pod to stay up-to-date with the latest space-related news and information.</p>
