'Darkish Facet Of Moon' Gorgeous Panoramic Picture Captured By China's Chang'e-4

Both the lander and the rover entered a "sleep mode" on Sunday as the first lunar night after the probe's landing fell, according to Wu.

"China, the United States, Russia and Europe are all discussing whether to build a research base or a research station on the moon", Wu said.

According to Wu, the Chang'e-6 mission will be created to bring samples back from the South Pole of the moon.

Robinson said that the prominent crater, roughly 80 feet (25 meters) in diameter, in front of the lander can be seen in the LROC imagery.

Wu Yanhua, deputy director of the China National Space Administration (CNSA), said a primary analysis showed that the northwestern region to the probe is relatively flat, and the probe will mainly drive to the region.

So was a data collaboration with NASA, the first cooperation since a 2011 law banned such activity without congressional approval.

The Chang'e 4 lander-rover duo safely set down on the plains of Von Kármán Crater on the night of January 2.

Fox News has reached out to NASA with a request for comment on this story.

The lunar mission by Chang'e 4 and its rover, Jade Rabbit 2, was a triumph for China's growing space program, which has been rapidly catching up with those of Russian Federation and the U.S. President Xi Jinping has placed space exploration among the country's national development priorities and the far side mission offered a chance for China to do something not done before by any other country.

Since the moon's revolution cycle is the same as its rotation cycle, the same side always faces the Earth.

Officials at the briefing declined to give specific figures on the costs of the space program.

China's National Space Administration applauded the event as a first that "lifted the mysterious veil" of the far side of the moon and claimed it as a major achievement for the country's ambitious space program.

Chinese space agency's deputy director, Wu Yanhua, and NASA exchanged information to help better monitor the landing, according to the Associated Press.

Wu Yanhua said the Chang'e 4 was originally built as a "backup product" for Chang'e 3.

Around the end of this year, China plans to launch Chang'e 5, which is to collect and bring back samples from the near side of the moon, the first time that has been done since 1976.

Some places at the south pole of the moon receive sunlight for over 180 consecutive days, and some areas in craters there are never exposed to sunlight and might hold frozen water, scientists say.

A lot of experts were impressed with China's successful and historic touchdown, including Jim Bridenstine, a NASA administrator, who took to Twitter to congratulate the Asian space agency. It will most likely become the world's only space station if the US-led International Space Station will be retired as planned.

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