China says it has successfully landed a robotic rover on the surface of the Moon, a major step in the Asian superpower's ambitious programme of space exploration.
Scientists at the control centre celebrate the mission's "most difficult task". Photo: AFP
The 'Jade Rabbit' can travel at 200 m/h. Photo: AFP
A landing module used thrusters to touch down, performing the first soft landing on the Moon in 37 years.
The lander was to deploy a robotic rover called Yutu, which translates as "Jade Rabbit".
The BBC reports the touchdown took place on a flat plain called the Bay of Rainbows.
The Chang'e-3 mission launched on a Chinese-developed Long March 3B rocket on 1 December from Xichang in the country's south.
The official Xinhua news service reported that the craft began its descent just 9pm on Saturday (Beijing time), touching down in Sinus Iridum (the Bay of Rainbows) 11 minutes later.
The probe's soft landing was described by the lunar programme's chief designer as the most difficult task during the mission.
It is the third robotic rover mission to land on the lunar surface, but the Chinese vehicle carries a more sophisticated payload, including ground-penetrating radar which will gather measurements of the lunar soil and crust.
The 120-kilogram Jade Rabbit rover can reportedly climb slopes of up to 30 degrees and travel at 200 metres per hour.
Its name - chosen in an online poll of 3.4 million voters - derives from an ancient Chinese myth about a rabbit living on the moon as the pet of the lunar goddess Chang'e.
