China’s Tianwen-1 probe shares monochrome picture of Mars, expected to land in May

China’s Tianwen-1 probe has sent back its first picture of Mars, China National Space Administration (CNSA) said on February 5. Launched in July last year, the mission is believed to be Beijing’s bid to outrun rival US and Russia in space power. Tianwen-1 is expected to land in Utopia, a massive impact basin on the Martian surface in May this year.

According to the CNSA, the monochrome snapshot was captured from a distance of 2.2 million kilometres from Mars. At present Tianwen-1 was 1.1 million kilometres from the planet. The detailed photograph accurately shows the geological features of the red planet including Schiaparelli crater and the Valles Marineris, a vast stretch of canyons on the Martian surface.

Read: Elon Musk Reveals Ambitious Plans To Get Humans To Mars Seven Years Ahead Of NASA

_{A black-and-white picture of Mars taken by Tianwen 1, the first snapshot from the Chinese craft. Credits: China National Space Administration}

Orbital corrections

The space agency also stated that the Mars probe conducted its fourth orbital correction on February 5, just 5 days before it makes ready for its arrival in Mars’ orbit. “The robotic vehicle ignited one of its engines at 8 pm to make an orbital correction and ensure it would be flying in the right direction toward the Martian gravitational field”, the administration said in a brief statement. The five-tonne Tianwen-1 includes a Mars orbiter, a lander and a rover that will study the planet's soil upon its arrival.

Read: Car Size Perseverance Rover To Land On Mars Soon, To Start Red Planet Exploration

"Tianwen 1, the country's first independent Mars mission, was launched by a Long March 5 heavy-lift carrier rocket on July 23 from the Wenchang Space Launch Center in Hainan province, kicking off the nation's planetary exploration program. It will conduct a "braking" operation to decelerate and make sure it will be captured by Martian gravity around Feb 10, said China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp, the nation's leading space contractor. The space administration previously said if everything goes according to schedule, the 5 metric ton probe, which consists of two major parts - the orbiter and the landing capsule - will travel more than 470 million km before entering Martian orbit, when it will be 193 million km from Earth," CNSA said about the mission on its website. 

Read: Mysterious Clusters Of Dark Streaks On Mars Is Probably Because Of Landslides

Read: Elon Musk Opens Up About Mars, Gamestop And Dogecoin | Here's Everything He Said