BEIJING: 06, FEBRUARY, 2021: China has released space probe's first image of Mars, as the mission prepares to touch down on the Red Planet later this year, national space agency said on Friday. 

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

The Tianwen-1 took the picture at a distance of around 2.2 million km (1.4 million miles) from Mars, according to the CNSA, which supplied a black-and-white image and said the spacecraft was now 1.1 million kilometers from the planet. 

In a statement, the CNSA said, the probe is now only half that distance away from Mars and around 184 million km from Earth after 197 days of the mission, adding that all systems on the Tianwen-1 probe were in good condition. 

The Tianwen-1 was launched in July from China’s southern Hainan island and expected to enter Mars orbit around this month. 

The five-ton Tianwen-1 includes a Mars orbiter, a lander and a rover that will study the planet’s soil.

In May, it will try to land in Utopia Planitia, a plain in the northern hemisphere, and deploy a rover to explore for 90 days. 

China became the first country to make a successful soft landing on the far side.

China previously made a Mars bid in 2011 with Russia, ended prematurely as the launch failed. 

Mars has proved a challenging target so far, with most missions sent by the US, Russia, Europe, Japan and India to the planet since 1960 ending in failure. (04)