China lands it’s rover successfully on the moon

China has made a giant leap in the race to become a space superpower, landing it’s lunar rover successfully on the far side of the moon.

A Chinese lunar rover has landed on the dark side of the moon today, in a world first that will boost Beijing’s ambitious plans to become a superpower in space.

The Chang’e-4 probe landed at 1:26pm AEDT and sent a photo of the far side of the moon to the country’s Queqiao satellite, which will relay communications back to controllers on Earth, state broadcaster CCTV said.

China Xinhua News was one of the first English speaking outlets to break the news on Twitter, sharing images of the rover moon landing to its 11.8 million Twitter followers.

What does the far side of the moon look like?
China's Chang'e-4 probe gives you the answer.
It landed on the never-visible side of the moon Jan. 3 https://t.co/KVCEhLuHKT pic.twitter.com/BiKjh7Fv22

— China Xinhua News (@XHNews) January 3, 2019

The website reported that the Chang-e 4 landed on an area “177.6 degrees east longitude and 45.5 degrees south latitude on the far side of the moon”.

Another major English speaking Chinese news outlet, China Daily, also tweeted the news to its 3.2 million followers.

China's Chang'e-4 probe takes photo of the far side of the moon. pic.twitter.com/JqssSgBJtk

— China Daily (@ChinaDaily) January 3, 2019

Beijing is pouring billions of dollars into its military-run space program, in the hopes of establishing a fully staffed space station by 2022.

The government also hopes to eventually send humans to the moon.

The Chang’e-4 lunar probe mission — named after a moon goddess in Chinese mythology — was launched last month from the southwestern Xichang launch centre in China.

It is the second Chinese probe to land on the moon, following the Yutu (Jade Rabbit) rover mission in 2013.

China’s Chang'e-4 lunar probe took off on December 8 from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Sichuan Province. Picture: Jiang Hongjing

Unlike the near side of the moon that always faces the earth and offers many flat areas to touch down on, the far side is mountainous and rugged.

The Chang’e-4 probe is carrying six experiments from China and four from abroad, and includes low-frequency radio astronomical studies - aiming to take advantage of the lack of interference on the far side.

The rover will also conduct mineral and radiation tests, the China National Space Administration said according to state news agency.