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China's Mars probe over 100M km away from Earth

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The China National Space Administration (CNSA) releases mid-flight images of Mars probe Tianwen-1 as the country's National Day coincides with the Mid-Autumn Festival on Oct. 1, 2020. (China National Space Administration/Handout via Xinhua)

China's Mars probe Tianwen-1 is currently more than 100 million km away from Earth and is functioning normally, according to the China National Space Administration on Tuesday.

As of 9 p.m. on Monday (Beijing Time), the Mars probe had flown in space for 144 days and traveled more than 360 million km. It was more than 100 million km away from Earth and about 12 million km away from Mars.

The Mars probe will likely be about 190 million km away from Earth when it reaches the vicinity of Mars.

Since it was launched on July 23, the Mars probe has captured an image of both Earth and the moon and taken selfies. It has carried out three orbital corrections, a deep-space maneuver and self-checks on multiple payloads.

It will conduct several orbital corrections and will likely decelerate to enter the Mars orbit in mid-February next year, according to the administration.

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