In this week's Science Saturday, we look at science news ranging from China's first Mars mission to glow-in-the-dark plants.

Tianwen-1

China has named its first Mars exploration mission after its ancient poem by Qu Yuan. It is called "Tianwen-1", which means "Quest for Heavenly Truth." The probe will study the soil, geological structure, environment and atmosphere of the Red Planet. It's expected to launch in July this year.

Space exploration

SpaceX has launched its seventh batch of communications satellites. Its Falcon 9 rocket carried 60 Starlink satellites, releasing them at an altitude of 224 kilometers above the Earth. SpaceX has 422 satellites in orbit. The company plans to have up to 12,000 satellites to provide uninterrupted high-speed internet access from any point on Earth.

Hubble space telescope

Hubble has revealed a stunning image of a "Cosmic Reef" to mark its 30th anniversary. The image shows a giant NGC 20-14 and its neighbor, NGC 20-20. Its been nicknamed the "Cosmic Reef," as it looks like an undersea world. The vast star-forming region is close to the Milky Way, located some 163,000 light-years away. Each year, Hubble takes a new photo to share with the world to celebrate its birthday.  

Glow-in-the-dark plants

Scientists have created glowing plants using mushroom genes. They inserted DNA sequences from a bioluminescent mushroom into tobacco plants. This made the plants radiate a mysterious green gleam. The gene-encoding method can help make a plant glow ten times brighter, compared with the traditional means of using DNA of glowing bacteria. Experts say the results can help them better observe and understand the inner workings of plants. 

"Science Saturday" is part of CGTN's science and technology series "Tech It Out." The segment brings you the latest news about innovations and technological breakthroughs in the past two weeks from across the world.