JAKARTA - Over the next few weeks, all rovers on Mars will be left to survive alone, receiving no communication from Earth. The Chinese rover Zhurong recently reached 100 days of life on Mars, now facing a communications blackout.
Zhurong is the latest rover to reach the Red Planet. Of the 14 missions that have landed on Mars from the US, Russia, Europe and China, only four are still active, rolling and flying, Curiosity, InSight, Perseverance and Zhurong.
Explorers on Mars communicate with Earth thanks to satellites orbiting Mars. The Mars orbiter had a similar fate, of the 18 spacecraft missions only 8 are still orbiting the Red Planet today.
Every two years, an astronomical phenomenon known as solar conjunction puts all Mars exploration missions and programs to sleep. NASA and the China National Space Administration CNSA, both countries actively operating on Mars went into "stealth mode" shutting down the main operation.
Solar conjunction occurs when the Sun blocks Earth from a straight line to Mars. Solar plasma and wind create interference in radio and data signals that affect the Mars rover.
Chat between Mars and Earth will be very quiet for at least two weeks. No orders can be sent to the explorer from Earth during this time because interference caused by the Sun can corrupt the command.
Corrupt or corrupt commands can in turn cause malicious modifications and trigger unwanted behavior. NASA with more than two decades under its belt in Mars rover exploration is familiar with the solar conjunction. NASA will close operations on October 1 and resume operations on October 14. China on the other hand closed all communications with Mars on September 13.
NASA and Chinese engineers have been preparing for the solar conjunction for months. NASA said their team had sent two weeks of instructions beforehand to the rovers. "Like parents raising their children responsibly and letting them go on short vacations with their friends, they've done everything they could to ensure travelers would be healthy and safe," NASA said.
The Chinese space agency said that interference with solar conjunction electromagnetic radiation forced orbiters and their rover into safe mode.
"When the phase ends, the orbiter will enter the orbit of the remote sensing mission at the appropriate time to carry out global remote sensing exploration of Mars, and also convey the communications of the Mars rover's expansion mission phase," China said.
Cars or rover robots such as Curiosity, InSight, Perseverance, and Zhurong, and a network of orbiting satellites stand alone when the Sun moves slowly, interfering with dangerous communications. Running safe mode operations, for two long weeks, becomes end game, as always survive by playing it safe.
Until NASA's Space Network and Chinese antennas wake up the explorers, the world will hear little from the human rover team on Mars, left to fend for themselves. They will adapt and survive, or suffer the consequences themselves. Let's hope they make it through unscathed.
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