Chinese Tianwen-1 Mars Probe Shares Impressive Photos of Red Planet

The Tianwen-1 spacecraft, which is currently orbiting Mars, has captured two stunning images of a sunlit crescent Mars.

The photos were taken with the medium resolution camera on Tianwen-1, China's first interplanetary mission, over the northern and southern hemispheres of Mars.

The two photographs show the Sun partly illuminated the southern and northern hemispheres of Mars.

According to the China National Space Administration (CNSA), they were taken at a distance of 11,000 kilometers from the earth, providing a stunning new perspective on our planet's neighbor.

Tianwen-1 has been in a parking orbit around Mars for nearly a month, capturing multiple high-resolution images. After launching in July 2020, the craft reached Martian orbit on February 24.

The space agency said it has since turned on its research instruments and other payloads to begin exploring the earth.

Futurism said CNSA published spectacular high-definition images of Mars earlier this month, revealing unparalleled detail of the planet's north pole.

Big Move

CNSA said the Tianwen-1 probe is currently in a polar orbit around Mars, making it as near as 174 miles (280 kilometers) to the surface and as far as 36,660 miles (59,000 kilometers) away.

The orbit allows the spacecraft to fly over the mission's rover's primary candidate landing site.

The spacecraft will get a clear view of the location where it plans to drop off a lander and rover as soon as May or June, thanks to its current orbit.

According to Wang Chi, director of the Chinese Academy of Sciences' National Space Science Center, a touchdown is expected in around six weeks.

"The first Chinese Mars mission, Tianwen-1, is now orbiting Mars, and we are landing in the middle of May," Wang said during a presentation earlier this month, as quoted by Spaceflight Now. "We are open to international cooperation, and the data will be available publicly soon."

If successful, it will be the first time a country other than the United States has successfully landed a robotically powered rover on Mars.

According to CNSA, the spacecraft's high-resolution camera has been gathering accurate images of the target landing site in anticipation of a rover landing attempt in May or June.

Tianwen-1 arrived on Mars on February 10, a day after the UAE's Hope probe and a week before NASA's Perseverance rover.

Science Alert said the orbiter would continue to orbit the planet after the rover has been lowered. It would conduct its own observations and serve as a communications relay between Earth and Mars.