China's Tianwen-1 Mars probe on Monday captured the Earth and the Moon in a single photograph with its optical navigation sensor from around 1.2 million kilometers away from Earth, according to the China National Space Administration (CNAS).

Photo: Courtesy of China National Space Administration

In the black-and-white image, the Earth and the Moon, both large and small, look like crescents watching each other.

The Tianwen-1 Mars probe, China's first, is currently in good condition and showing smooth progress in all aspects of its work including power, system functions and ground tracking, according to CNAS.

The probe has escaped the Earth's gravitational influence and entered an interplanetary transfer orbit, flying more than 1.5 million kilometers away from Earth.

China successfully launched the probe via a Long March-5 carrier rocket from Wenchang Space Launch Center located in South China’s Hainan Province on Thursday.

The probe mission aims to achieve orbiting, landing and roving on the Red Planet all in one go. Tianwen-1 is scheduled to land on Mars around May 2021.

(Compiled by Zhu Yurou)