The China National Space Administration (CNSA) on Tuesday released images of the Earth and Moon taken by the Tianwen-2 probe in orbit.
CNSA reported that the narrow-field-of-view navigation sensor mounted on the probe recently captured images of the Earth and the Moon, demonstrating good functional performance.
The released images include a photo of the Earth taken by Tianwen-2 when it was approximately 590,000 kilometers from the planet, as well as a new photo of the Moon taken when it was about the same distance from the Moon. After the images were transmitted to Earth, they were processed and created by scientific researchers.
According to CNSA, the Tianwen-2 probe has been in orbit for more than 33 days at a distance of more than 12 million kilometers from Earth and is in good working condition.
China launched its first asteroid sample return mission, Tianwen-2, on May 29 in an effort to shed light on the formation and evolution of asteroids and the early solar system.
The mission aims to achieve several goals during the ten-year expedition: collecting samples from the near-Earth asteroid 2016HO3 and studying the main-belt comet 311P, which is further from Earth than Mars. ■
This image released by the China National Space Administration (CNSA) shows a view of the Earth taken by the Tianwen-2 probe on May 30, 2025 and processed by scientific researchers. The China National Space Administration (CNSA) on Tuesday released images of the Earth and the Moon taken by the Tianwen-2 probe in orbit.
CNSA reported that the narrow-field-of-view navigation sensor mounted on the probe recently captured images of the Earth and the Moon, demonstrating good functional performance.
The released images include a photo of the Earth taken by Tianwen-2 when it was approximately 590,000 kilometers from the planet, as well as a new photo of the Moon taken when it was approximately the same distance from the Moon. After the images were transmitted back to Earth, they were processed and created by scientific researchers.
