China's space authorities have received photos from Mars after the country's unmanned probe safely landed on the surface of the red planet earlier this month for the first time, state-run media reported Wednesday. One of the photos showed the separation of the lander and rover. Another was taken by the rover after landing, the official China Global Television Network quoted the China National Space Administration as saying. On Saturday, China said its probe landed on the surface of Mars, becoming the third nation to achieve such a mission after the Soviet Union and United States. With President Xi Jinping pledging to make China a "space power," Beijing is expected to study the soil and atmosphere on Mars and survey whether there is groundwater as it looks for signs of possible ancient life. China's largest carrier rocket, the Long March 5 Y-4, blasted off with the Tianwen-1 Mars probe from a launch site on the coast of the southern island province of Hainan in July 2020. It entered the orbit of the planet in February. In late April, meanwhile, China launched the core module of its first space station. The move followed the return to Earth last year of an unmanned Chinese space probe with the first lunar soil samples taken in 44 years. As China and the United States have been at odds over several security and economic issues, competition in space between the world's two major powers has also been intensifying.

China said Thursday a cohort of astronauts is training for four crewed missions this year as the country works to complete its first permanent orbiting space station.

China says its Tianwen-1 spacecraft has entered a temporary parking orbit around Mars in anticipation of landing a rover on the red planet in the coming months.

China's Chang'e-5 probe retrieved about 1,731 grams of samples from the moon, according to the China National Space Administration (CNSA).

Chinese ground crews are standing by for the return of a lunar probe bringing back the first fresh samples of rock and debris from the moon in more than 45 years.

The ascender of China's Chang'e-5 probe successfully rendezvoused and docked with the orbiter-returner combination in lunar orbit at 5:42 a.m. (Beijing Time) on Sunday, the China National Space Administration (CNSA) has announced.

The lander and the rover of the Chang'e-4 probe have been switched to the dormant mode for the lunar night after working stably for the 23rd lunar day, according to the Lunar Exploration and Space Program Center of the China National Space Administration.

China's Mars probe Tianwen-1 successfully conducted a deep-space maneuver on Friday night (Beijing time), according to the China National Space Administration.