China’s Tianon 1 probe sends first image from Mars



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The Chinese probe took the image about 2.2 million kilometers from Mars (Twitter)

China’s National Space Agency said Friday that China’s first space mission to explore Mars took its first image of the red planet, about six months after launching from Earth.

The agency reported that the unmanned probe, Tianon 1, took the image at a distance of about 2.2 million kilometers from Mars, and the agency showed a black and white image.

The agency added that the probe had so far halved that distance to Mars, and is about 184 million kilometers from Earth 197 days after the mission began, noting that its systems are in good condition. .

The probe took off from Hainan, in southern China, in July and is expected to reach Mars orbit later this month. In May, it will attempt to land on Mars and explore the planet over a 90-day period.

And if the mission is successful, Tianan 1 will make China the first country to send a probe into orbit, land and explore Mars from the first mission, which will strengthen China’s position in space exploration, after last year it became the first country to collect samples. of the moon since the 1970s.

China previously launched a Mars mission with Russia in 2011, but the vehicle carrying a probe failed to leave Earth orbit and crashed into the Pacific Ocean.

(Reuters)



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