China's Lunar lander captures fresh pics of moon (Watch pics)

New Delhi: Chang'e 3, which includes a lander and rover, was launched on 1 December 2013 under the Chinese Lunar Exploration Program.It successfully soft-landed on the Moon on 14 December 2013. The successful soft-landing of the Chang'e 3 lander made China the third country to complete a lunar rover mission after the United States and RussiaThe last soft-landing was carried out by the Soviet Union in 1976.Chang'e 3 is equipped with ground-penetrating radar, cameras, a telescope and spectroscopic instruments thus data from the Chang'e mission could shed light on the moon's history and facilitate other space expeditions.According to the experts orbiters launched by Europe, Japan, the United States and others have gathered extensive data about the moon's structure and composition. Now, the Chinese rover may help validate and refine that data, giving detailed information about the concentrations of elements such as titanium, aluminum, iron, potassium and sodium.China's space agency has now distributed fresh new pictures of the Moon's surface from its lunar lander and rover.The Jade Rabbit rover can be seen trundling across the pockmarked surface of Earth's satellite in pictures.1. The sky over the Moon appears inky black in this picture showing the Jade Rabbit rover trundling across the lunar surface2. The mission is seen as a symbol of China's rising global stature and technological advancement.3. This photo shows the barren landscape of the Moon.4. Chang'e-3's soft-landing was carried out 12 days after it blasted off on an Long March-3B carrier rocket5. This digitally-combined panoramic photo.6. This digitally-combined panoramic photo shows the moonscape around the Yutu.7. This photo hows the lunar surface n from a height of 7.9km8. A photo from 99m above the Moon.