China made history this weekend by becoming only the third nation to soft land an unmanned spacecraft on the moon. Soon after, the spacecraft’s Yutu (Jade Rabbit) rover was deployed and it took the opportunity to shoot what amounts to a “space selfie,” sending back an image of the Chang’e-3 to its handlers on Earth.
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The image of the gold and silver-colored spacecraft appeared on the website of Xinhua, China’s state news agency (see below).
Another image, which was taken by the Chang’e-3 and posted to Xinhua’s Twitter account, shows the deployed Yutu rover displaying China’s flag.
A mugshot of China's first moon rover, Yutu, was transmitted back to Earth. China's national flag was displayed. pic.twitter.com/p9gtf3WUWy— Xinhua News Agency (@XHNews) December 16, 2013
Earlier this weekend, China state television also broadcast video (see above) of the rover making its first trek onto the surface of the moon. Chang'e-3's successful landing marks the first such unmanned touchdown on the moon in nearly 40 years, the last one being Russia’s Luna 24 in 1976.
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Homepage Image: CCTV, YouTube