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China's Mars probe travels 450 mln km, to reach Mars orbit around Feb. 10
CGTN
China's first Mars probe Tianwen-1 is launched at Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site in south China's Hainan Province, July 23, 2020. /CFP

China's first Mars probe Tianwen-1 is launched at Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site in south China's Hainan Province, July 23, 2020. /CFP

China's first Mars probe Tianwen-1 has traveled more than 450 million kilometers since it was launched last July and is expected to reach the Mars orbit around February 10, the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) said on Wednesday.

It reached a distance of around 170 million kilometers from Earth on Wednesday, according to the CASC.

When the probe approaches Mars, it would have flown 470 million kilometers and be 190 million kilometers away from Earth.

The probe will conduct a "braking" maneuver to slow itself down so that it can be captured by Mars' gravity.  

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