Chang'e-4 is sitting in the South Pole-Aitken basin's Von Kármán crater, which is the oldest and deepest crater on the moon's surface. Earlier this year China launched the Queqiao (Magpie Bridge) relay satellite that will allow its lander and rover to send back the first images taken from the surface.

Update: The China National Space Administration shared the first picture taken from the surface by Chang'e-4, which you can see after the break. In an attached statement, it said this has "opened a new chapter" in human exploration of the moon. The picture below shows the path its rover is expected to take, as it carries out experiments, takes readings and delivers a "biotech test load" to the lunar surface.

#China's Chang'e-4 probe sends back world's first close shot of moon's far side after historic soft landing on uncharted area https://t.co/OckokVjnh8 pic.twitter.com/ReORkkPcq3 — CGTN (@CGTNOfficial) January 3, 2019





Video

Presenter: Dana Wollman

Script: Chris Velazco

Script Editor: Dana Wollman

Camera: Taylor Ligay

Editor: Chris Schodt

Producer: Michael Morris