China has successfully launched its Chang'e-3 lunar probe to the moon, from the Xichang satellite Launch Center in southwestern China. It is the first time a Chinese spacecraft will land on the surface of an extraterrestrial body, and first time a rover will land on the moon in four decades. Chang'e 3 is aiming to follow the successes of the Chang'e 1 and Chang'e 2 missions in 2007 and 2010.

It's regarded as the most ambitious lunar mission by China. The long-march 3B rocket carried the Chang'e-3 lunar probe and a rover into orbit before they unfolded their solar panels.

Many technologies are being used to ensure the probe makes a safe landing in low-gravity conditions. The lunar program will also see breakthroughs in remote control between the moon and the Earth, like the use of a high frequency X-band observation system.

"If we successfully use the X-band, in the future, we can use this tracking network to perform a mission to Mars," Wu Fenglei, Deputy Director of System Design of Aerospace Control and Command Center.

Chang'e 3 is part of the second phase of China's three-step robotic lunar exploration program of orbiting and landing probes, followed by a mission to collect samples of the moon and return them to Earth.

Ten years ago, China became the third country, after Russia and the United States, to independently put an astronaut in orbit. Today, it is sending a sophisticated Lander and rover to the moon. Chang'e three will bring the country a step closer to a manned lunar mission.

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