CHINA'S UNCREWED MISSION GETS ITS FIRST IMAGES OF MARS

China's maiden space mission to Mars has returned its first image of the red planet, the space agency said Friday, some six months after the probe left Earth. The uncrewed Tianwen-1 took the picture around 2.2 million kilometres from Mars, according to the China National Space Administration (CNSA). The probe is now only half that distance from Mars and around 184 million km from Earth after 197 days of the mission, the CNSA said, adding that its systems were in good condition. The Tianwen-1 is expected to reach the orbit of Mars this month. 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. That would make China the first country to orbit, land and deploy a rover in its inaugural mission to Mars.