FILE: China - April 2020 (China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation - No access Chinese mainland)
1. Various of animation of Mars

FILE: China - Date Unknown (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
2. Various of promotion video of "Tianwen", China's first Mars exploration mission

FILE: Wenchang Satellite Launch Center, Hainan Province, south China - July 23, 2020 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
3. Long March-5 Y4 rocket carrying Mars probe blasting off from launch pad

FILE: Beijing, China - October 2020 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
4. Various of animation showing Tianwen-1 flying in space

FILE: Beijing, China - Sept 20, 2020 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
5. Various of engineers in control room

Beijing, China - Feb 5, 2021 (China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation - No access Chinese mainland)
6. Various of picture of Mars

FILE: China - Date Unknown (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
7. Animation of probe moving trajectory

FILE: China - April 2020 (China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation - No access Chinese mainland)
8. Various of animation of Mars exploration mission

China's Mars probe Tianwen-1 will initiate the breaking sequence as it is approaching the Mars and expected to be "captured" by the planet around Thursday.

After more than 200 days in flight, Tianwen-1 will finally reach its orbit around the Mars in about a day on February 11, the Chinese Lunar New Year's Eve.

China's Mars exploration mission was established in 2016. Four years later in April 2020, it was given the name "Tianwen-1".

The name "Tianwen" means "questions to heaven" in English, and it was numbered one as it is the first of China's missions to other planets.

Carried by a Long March-5 rocket, the Mars probe was launched on July 23, 2020. It includes an orbiter, a lander and a rover.

After more than two-months travel, the probe sent back its first deep-space selfie with the Chinese national flag on the National Day, October 1, which also coincided with the Mid-Autumn Festival.

Several tasks have been completed during the journey, including capturing an image of the Earth and the moon, four orbital corrections and a deep space maneuver.

The probe on Friday captured its first image of Mars from a distance of 2.2 million km from the red planet, said the China National Space Administration.

Tianwen-1 will spend two to three months orbiting and surveying potential sites for a landing in May. The rover will then explore the Mars for about 90 days. It will examine the Martian soil and surface material as well as its atmosphere and climate.