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China’s Space Probe Sends Back Its 1st Image of Mars

China's Tianwen-1 probe has sent back its first image of Mars, the National Space Agency said, as the mission is preparing to touch the Red Planet later this year.

The spacecraft, launched around the same time as a rival US mission in July, is expected to enter Mars orbit around February 10, reports AFP.

The black-and-white photo released late Friday by the Chinese National Space Administration showed geological features, including the crater of Schiaparelli and the Valles Marineris, a vast stretch of canyons on the Martian surface.

The photo was taken about 2.2 million kilometers (1.4 million miles) from Mars, according to CNSA, which said the spacecraft is now 1.1 million kilometers from the planet.

The robotic craft set off one of its engines to "make an orbital correction" on Friday and was expected to slow down before being "captured by Martian gravity" around February 10, the agency said.

The five-ton Tianwen-1 includes a Mars orbiter, a lander and a rover to study the soil of the planet.

China hopes to ultimately land the rover in May in Utopia, a massive impact basin on Mars.

After watching the United States and the Soviet Union lead the way during the Cold War, China has poured billions of dollars into its military-led space programme.

It has made huge strides in the past decade, sending a human into space in 2003.

The Asian powerhouse laid the groundwork to assemble a space station by 2022 and to gain a permanent foothold in Earth's orbit.

But Mars has been a challenging target so far, with most missions sent to the planet by the United States, Russia, Europe, Japan and India since 1960 ending in failure.

Tianwen-1 is not China’s first attempt to reach Mars.

A previous mission with Russia in 2011 ended prematurely as the launch failed.

China has already sent two rovers to the Moon. With the second, China became the first country to make a successful soft landing on the far side.

All systems on the Tianwen-1 probe are in “good condition,” CNSA said Friday.

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