BEIJING — China's Mars probe, Tianwen-1, captured an image of the Earth and Moon, about 1.2 million km from Earth, the China National Space Administration said on July 28.

China launched its first Mars mission Tianwen-1, which means Questions to Heaven, on July 23, marking the country's first step in planetary exploration of the solar system.

Tianwen-1 took a photo of the Earth and Moon with an optical navigation sensor on July 27. In the black-and-white picture, the Earth and the Moon, one large and one small, were both crescent-shaped, watching each other in the vast universe.

According to the CNSA, the probe has escaped the earth's gravity and entered the Earth-Mars transfer orbit, traveling more than 1.5 million km away from the Earth.

The probe was in good condition, said the CNSA.