Reuters Science News Summary

Two masks likely better than one, CDC says New Year blessings from Mars as China releases footage from space probe China's space agency released two videos providing a close-up glimpse of Mars on Friday, captured as its Tianwen-1 probe entered the red planet's orbit, saying the spacecraft was sending a Lunar New Year greeting to Earth.

Following is a summary of current science news briefs. Two masks protect better than one; asthma, antiviral drugs show promise as treatments

The following is a roundup of some of the latest scientific studies on the novel coronavirus and efforts to find treatments and vaccines for COVID-19, the illness caused by the virus. Two masks likely better than one, CDC says New Year blessings from Mars as China releases footage from space probe

China's space agency released two videos providing a close-up glimpse of Mars on Friday, captured as its Tianwen-1 probe entered the red planet's orbit, saying the spacecraft was sending a Lunar New Year greeting to Earth. After a 6-1/2 month journey through space, the Tianwen-1 on Wednesday slowed to a speed at which it could be captured by the pull of Mars' gravity and became the second spacecraft to reach the planet this month, with a U.S. probe set to arrive and immediately attempt a landing next week. Uncrewed Chinese spacecraft successfully enters Mars orbit

An uncrewed Chinese spacecraft on Wednesday successfully entered orbit around Mars after a 6-1/2-month journey from Earth, China's space agency said, in the country's first independent mission to the red planet. The robotic probe carried out a 15-minute burn of its thrusters at 7:52 p.m. Beijing time (1152 GMT), the China National Space Administration said in a statement, slowing the spacecraft to a speed at which it could be captured by the pull of Mars' gravity.