China creates history with Jade Rabbit moon rover landing

ALL content used in this not-for-profit blog remain the property of their respective owners.
http://news.asiaone.com/news/asia/china-makes-history-jade-rabbit-moon-rover-landing

China's Jade Rabbit lunar rover vehicle drove onto the moon's surface on Sunday after the first soft landing on Earth's satellite in nearly four decades, marking a huge advance in the country's ambitious space programme.

The Yutu, or Jade Rabbit, was deployed at 4:35 am (2035 GMT Saturday), several hours after the Chang'e-3 probe landed on the moon, according to official news agency Xinhua.

China is the third country to complete a lunar rover mission after the United States and the former Soviet Union - a decade after it first sent an astronaut into space, and ahead of plans to establish a permanent space station by 2020 and eventually send a human to the moon.

The mission is seen as a symbol of China's rising global stature and technological advancement, as well as the Communist Party's success in reversing the fortunes of the once-impoverished nation.