The Long March-3B rocket carrying the Chang'e-3 lunar probe blasts off from the launch pad at Xichang Satellite Launch Center in the Sichuan province of China on Dec. 2, 2013. China Daily/Reuters

State media say China has safely carried out the world's first soft landing of a space probe on the moon in nearly four decades.

State television showed pictures of the moon's surface as the Chang'e 3 lander touched down Saturday evening after it blasted off from southwest China 12 days ago on a Long March-3B carrier rocket.

The lander carries a moon rover called "Jade Rabbit" that will separate and embark on a three-month scientific exploration.

China is the third country to carry out a lunar soft landing after the United States and the former Soviet Union. The last one was in 1976.

The solar-powered rover will examine the moon's geological structures and set up a telescope to survey the surface as well as observe the Earth's plasmasphere, a region of dense, cold plasma that surrounds the planet, state news agency Xinhua reported.

An earlier Chinese craft orbited and collected data before intentionally crash-landing on the moon.

China's ambitious space program is an enormous source of pride for the country, and has made major breakthroughs in a relatively short time, although it lags far behind the United States and Russia in space technology and experience. China sent its first astronaut into space in 2003 and plans to eventually land people on the moon.

Al Jazeera and The Associated Press