China’s Chang’e 4 probe has been pictured making progress across the surface of the far side of the moon after its historic landing.
The Jade Rabbit 2 probe drove off a ramp and onto the lunar surface about 12 hours after the Chang’e 4 ship touched down on Thursday.
A remarkable photo shared by China’s space agency documents the first movements of the ship on the moon’s so-called “dark side”.
Project chief designer Wu Weiren described the moment the probe left the ramp as “a small step for the rover, but one giant leap for the Chinese nation”.
The lunar explorer Chang'e 4 first touched down on the moon’s far side, which is never visible to our planet, at 10.26am on Thursday (local time).
It was a world-first for space exploration that, China’s space agency claimed, "opened a new chapter in human lunar exploration".
As well as revealing images of the far side, photos which show the ambitious aircraft taking off have also been released.
Jubilant scenes were seen in the Beijing Aerospace Control Centre as the probe touched down.
The probe, launched last month, will explore both above and below the lunar surface.
The work of Chang'e 4 includes carrying out astronomical observations and probing the structure and mineral composition of the terrain.
"The far side of the moon is a rare quiet place that is free from interference of radio signals from Earth," mission spokesman Yu Guobin said.
"This probe can fill the gap of low-frequency observation in radio astronomy and will provide important information for studying the origin of stars and nebula evolution.”
