20 August 2020
China's Mars probe Tianwen 1 has traveled more than 8 million km away from Earth and is functioning normally. As of 19 August, 23:20 BJT, the Mars probe has traveled 8.23 million km away from Earth. Starting from 22:20 BJT the same day, multiple payloads on the Mars probe, including Mars Magnetometer, Mars Mineralogy Spectrometer and High-resolution Camera, have completed self-check to confirm that they are in normal condition. Tianwen 1 is expected to reach the Red Planet around February 2021. After entering the orbit, it will spend another two to three months surveying the candidate landing sites before landing.
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