China's Mars rover Zhurong on Wednesday went into dormancy while waiting out a dust storm on the surface of the planet, according to the China National Space Administration on Friday.

The administration said that Zhurong is predicted to resume its operation around December.

The latest images taken by cameras onboard China's Tianwen-1 Mars orbiter show a dust storm passing over the patrol area of Zhurong. Scientists compared them with photos taken in the last two months and analyzed recent power data of the rover's solar wings, which indicated Zhurong now braving an intense Martian dust storm. 

To deal with the sandstorms which may weaken Zhurong's power generating capacity and the low temperatures at night, scientists decided to switch Zhurong to dormant mode.

As Zhurong's landing area enters the winter season, the highest daytime temperatures drop to minus 20 degrees Celsius and the night temperatures may drop below minus 100 degrees Celsius with high probability of sandstorms. The temperature will continue to drop in mid-July.

It is predicted that around December when the landing area comes into the spring season and the environmental conditions get better, Zhurong will get back to work.

In the meantime, the Mars probe Tianwen-1 is conducting remote sensing over Mars. The current image that it sent back shows the landform of the circumpolar latitude in the southern hemisphere of Mars.

Scientists will continue to use the Tianwen-1 orbiter to monitor the weather on Mars' southern hemisphere.

(With input from CCTV Plus and Xinhua)