Mars mission to pause for 50 days

BEIJING: China’s Tianwen 1 Mars mission will be inactivated for about 50 days from mid-September due to an expected disruption of its communications with Earth caused by solar electromagnetic radiation, the mission’s chief designer said.

During the period, which will end in early November, the Zhurong rover and the mission’s orbiter will suspend their working mode, Zhang Rongqiao of the China National Space Administration said on Monday.