China became the third nation to land a rover vehicle on the surface of the moon, following the U.S. and the former Soviet Union. Its National Space Administration is planning a second mission to return with moon samples by the end of 2017.
China already did a soft landing on the moon. Its first moon rover arrived in lunar orbit on Dec. 6, 2013, and landed on the moon's surface days later.
They have named the rover of the 2013 expedition "Yutu," which means Jade Rabbit. They named it after a Chinese myth about a rabbit which is a pet of Chang'e, the moon goddess.
The rover experienced an array of technical difficulties as soon as it landed on the moon. One of its issues was an electrical shutdown after a cold lunar night. The challenges were addressed, however, and the rover went on operating.
The rover is said to be the longest operating moon rover ever at the time of writing, lasting for 31 months from Dec. 2013 to Aug. 2016.
Some of the photos captured by Yutu were analyzed and discussed in scientific journal Nature Communications. The journal was published last 2015. The photos indicated a new type of basalt found on the lunar surface.
As a part of China's developing space program, it has announced intentions to return to the moon to gather more rock samples by the end of 2017.
The new lunar explorer that will be used for this expedition is named Chang'e 5. It will be significantly more complicated compared to the previous Chang'e rover.
China Central Television, the predominant state television broadcaster in the country, said: "The mission will be China's first automated moon surface sampling, first moon take-off, first unmanned docking in a lunar orbit about 380,000 km [around 236,000 miles] from Earth, and first return flight in a speed close to second cosmic velocity."
China is also planning to land a rover on Mars by 2020 to continue with its course on becoming a global force in space exploration.