Tianwen 1 Probe to Enter Mars Orbit before Chinese New Year

China's Tianwen 1 Mars probe is to enter Mars orbit around Feb 10, before Chinese New Year's Eve that falls on Feb 11 this year, and will then conduct a braking operation, kicking off its Mars adventure.

Developed by China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, the probe has traveled more than 465 million kilometers on its journey to the planet and is now about 184 million kilometers from the Earth.

Tianwen 1, the country's first independent Mars mission, was launched by a Long March 5 carrier rocket on July 23, 2020, from the Wenchang Space Launch Center in South China's Hainan Province.

It has completed four midcourse corrections, a deep-space orbital maneuver and a self-inspection of its payload.

What's more, the spacecraft took a photo of the Earth and the Moon as well as a selfie.

The selfie of Tianwen 1 Mars probe taken before the China's National Day in 2020 [Photo/sasac.gov.cn]

(Executive editor: Wang Ruoting)