Chang'e 3 lands on the Moon (with a local video)

[von Tom]

The Chang'e 3 landed safely on the Moon near the Bay of Rainbows at 13:14UT 14th December, 30min prior to its expected time. It overflew Copernicus crater on its way to touchdown.

Here is a pic taken just after it landed.

[glenc]

"China on Saturday successfully carried out the world's first soft landing of a space probe on the moon in nearly four decades, the next stage in an ambitious space program that aims to eventually put a Chinese astronaut on the moon.
The unmanned Chang'e 3 lander, named after a mythical Chinese goddess of the moon, touched down on Earth's nearest neighbor following a 12-minute landing process.
The probe carried a six-wheeled moon rover called "Yutu," or "Jade Rabbit," the goddess' pet. After landing Saturday evening on a fairly flat, Earth-facing part of the moon, the rover was slated to separate from the Chang'e eight hours later and embark on a three-month scientific exploration."

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory/china-attempts-rovers-soft-landing-moon-21217539

[von Tom]

Video of the Moon as the Chang'e 3 lander touches down. http://youtu.be/lHBvk9xmvZg

http://youtu.be/lHBvk9xmvZg

Cheers,

Tom

[Gupise]

Great Idea! interesting, thanks for posting

[astronobob]

Nice work Tom'o