Chang'e moon probe's landing put China on the map

Experts have applauded the successful landing of China's Chang'e spacecraft on the far side of the moon, the first ever such mission.

A model of China's robotic lunar probe Chang'e-4 is displayed during the 12th Airshow China 2018, in Zhuhai city, Guangdong province, 7 November 2018. [File photo: IC]

The spacecraft, dubbed Chang'e 4, successfully landed on the far side of the moon at 10:26 a.m. BJT January 3rd.

This was a historic soft landing because it was the first time any craft landed successfully on the unexplored and rugged far side.

Elon Musk's tweet. [Screenshot: China Plus]

Elon Musk, the founder and CEO of SpaceX and Tesla, sent a congratulatory message for the successful landing.

NASA's Administrator Jim Bridenstine's post [Screenshot: China Plus]

"This is a first for humanity and an impressive accomplishment", Jim Bridenstine, NASA's Administrator, said in his post.

Tweeter post.[Screenshot: China Plus]

Many netizens have tweeted their excitement about the news of the landing. Some of them also posted pictures from the CCTV live streaming program they were following.

Tweeter post.[Screenshot: China Plus]

Chang'e (pinyin: Cháng'é) is the Chinese goddess of the Moon. Chinese Lunar Exploration Program is named after this ancient myth character. China first launched its first lunar probe, a robotic spacecraft named Chang'e 1 in 2007.