China Reaches the Moon — Beautiful High-Definition Images

The unmanned lunar exploration mission operated by the China National Space Administration (CNSA), Chang'e 3 discovered a new type of moon rock while exploring the surface. It managed to take thousands of high-resolution pictures.

Chang'e 3 is one of China's most advanced lunar lander, and these images are some of the most beautiful ever taken of the moon.

The Lunar Mission landed on Mare Imbrium in 2013. Researchers believe actual water could have existed in this region in a distance past. China is now the third country to achieve a soft landing on the moon's surface, after the U.S.A. and the Soviet Union.

The mission was conducted in 2013, and the images were released in 2015, but were only shown by western media a year and a half later.

Planetary Society’s Emily Lakdawalla spent weeks going through over 45 gigabytes of data and thank to her we can now access the photos in an easily downloadable manner.

“When it comes to data sharing from China, the situation is pretty good,” says Lakdawalla. All the images use the same format used by NASA and the European Space Agency.

The images are breathtakingly beautiful and scientists all over the world are studying them. Not only the pictures reveal a new type of moon rock, they also offer much finer detail than pictures taken in previous missions.

Chang’e 3's remains on the lunar surface and all its onboard instruments remain functional, even after two years.

China is to be one of the biggest players in terms of space exploration. They are playing with the idea of a possible manned moon mission in the not distant future.

The Chinese are planning a new moon mission to 2017, that will bring back to earth lunar samples. If successful, this new mission will greatly help scientists understand the origin and geology of our natural satellite.

Chang'E 3 landing full video in HD: