China's Mars probe completes deep-space maneuver

This is an image of the scene taken at the Beijing Aerospace Control Center (BACC) in Beijing, capital of China, Oct. 9, 2020. China's Mars probe Tianwen-1 successfully conducted a deep-space maneuver on Friday night (Beijing time), according to the China National Space Administration. The probe completed the maneuver at 11 p.m. after its main engine worked for over 480 seconds. (Xinhua/Cai Yang)

BEIJING, Oct. 9 (Xinhua) -- China's Mars probe Tianwen-1 successfully conducted a deep-space maneuver on Friday night (Beijing time), according to the China National Space Administration.

The probe completed the maneuver at 11 p.m. after its main engine worked for over 480 seconds.

The maneuver took place 29.4 million km from Earth, aiming to help the probe achieve a sound rendezvous with Mars.

Going forward, the probe will travel along the Earth-Mars transfer orbit for about four months and complete two or three mid-course orbital corrections.

China launched the Mars probe on July 23. It was designed to complete orbiting, landing, and roving in one mission. The probe will reach the red planet around February 2021.

It has successfully captured a photo of Earth and the moon and completed mid-course orbital corrections twice, as well as self-checks on multiple payloads.