China's Mars probe photographs Earth and Moon

China's Mars probe, Tianwen-1, captured an image of the Earth and Moon, about 1.2 million km from Earth, the China National Space Administration said on Tuesday.

China's Mars probe, Tianwen-1, takes a photo of the Earth and Moon, about 1.2 million kilometers from Earth, on July 27, 2020. [Photo provided by the China National Space Administration]

China launched its first Mars mission Tianwen-1, which means Questions to Heaven, on July 23, marking the country's first step in planetary exploration of the solar system.

Tianwen-1 took a photo of the Earth and Moon with an optical navigation sensor on Monday. In the black-and-white picture, the Earth and the Moon, one large and one small, were both crescent-shaped, watching each other in the vast universe.

According to the CNSA, the probe has escaped the earth's gravity and entered the Earth-Mars transfer orbit, travelling more than 1.5 million km away from the Earth.

The probe was in good condition, said the CNSA.