China’s space probe Tianwen-1 is expected to enter Mars’ orbit next month after covering more than 400m km since its launch on July 23 last year.
The probe flew in space for 163 days and is currently about 8.3 km from Mars, according to the China National Space Administration.
The flight is the beginning of the country’s independent planetary reconnaissance mission.
“The probe is flying faster and faster as it comes from the influence of heliocentric gravity,” explained Li Zhencai, the project’s deputy commander. “At the moment, the velocity is basically stable at about 22 km per second relative to the earth.”
This means that the probe travels about 1.8 km per day.
The spacecraft consists of an orbit, a lander and a rover.
It is expected to hit Mars in May 2021, about three months after they arrived in orbit from the red planet.
The distance between Mars and Earth changes from time to time, from 50 million kilometers at its nearest and 400 million kilometers at its farthest.