Chinese New Year Gift: An Exclusive Clip of Mars Probe Tianwen-1

China is celebrating its Lunar New Year with a special gift to the public.

It posted a quick video of its Mars orbiter, Tianwen-1, on its space mission. The video shows off a good snapshot of the spacecraft and the Red Planet.

Most space fans probably know that China space missions are typically kept confidential.

The country only releases information about its launches and spacecraft, but never anything about its findings and mission details.

So, it comes as a pleasant surprise when China finally released a Tianwen-1 selfie clip.

The video was posted on Twitter by China Xinhua News.

Tianwen-1 Mars Clip and Video

According to The Verge, Tianwen-1 has been circling Mars for nearly a year now.

It was launched from Earth in July 2020 and inserted itself into Mars' orbit in February 2021. Note that Tianwen-1 came to Mars with a lander and a rover.

Tianwen-1 is also China's first space mission on the Red Planet.

As previously mentioned, not many details are available on the Tianwen-1 space mission. But given the nature of its machinery, it is likely an orbiter that observes Mars' atmosphere and topography.

All data gathered are probably compiled and sent back to Earth ground control.

On the video clip uploaded on Monday, Jan. 31, viewers can see the Tianwen-1 in the middle of its orbit. The video also does a great job of featuring the spacecraft's body, engines, and solar array.

Lastly, Mars' surface is clearly visible on the 30-second time marker.

Fans interested on the Tianwen-1 are recommended to watch out for updates on the China Xinhua News.

Hopefully, more details might be revealed later this year.

Chinese New Year: Tianwen-1 Photos

Although scarce, there are also other photos teased for China's space missions.

Journalist Andrew Jones compiled some of these photos in a Twitter thread. One of Jones' posts features three photos of the Tianwen-1 on Mars orbit.

Another post shows three images taken by the Zhurong rover, which were stitched together to form a panoramic view.

Lastly, a photo of the Tianwen-1 while it was still on its vehicle shell was also posted.

Mysterious Object in Space Leaves Astronomers Scratching Their Head

On a different topic, space fans might be interested in another mysterious discovery.

Astronomers recently spotted a "strange object" that gives off three powerful bursts of energy every hour. Researchers theorize this might be an ultra-long period magnetar, which is the first to be discovered.

The strange object is officially called GLEAM-XJ162759.5-523504.

Researchers on the topic encourage other interested fans to observe the phenomena and help compile more data about it. Full details for this discovery are available in this article.