China’s Mars rover hasn’t moved in months

Sign up to our free weekly IndyTech newsletter delivered straight to your inbox Sign up to our free IndyTech newsletter Sign up to our free IndyTech newsletter SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. A time series taken by the US space agency’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter between September 2022 and February 2023 shows that China’s Zhurong rover remained immobile on the Red Planet during that entire period. “HiRISE is often used to observe changes to dust-covered areas near Mars surface missions,” scientists at the University of Arizona wrote in a blog post detailing their findings. “This time series shows that the rover has not changed its position between 8 September and 7 February 2023.” The photos show the rover appearing as a blue-ish dot near a crater on the surface of Mars. Tianwen 1 is China’s first interplanetary mission, however there has not been an update or any new images from the Zhurong rover for several months.