Launch of Chang'e 3

Chang'e 3 was the second phase of China's lunar exploration program and its first soft landing on the Moon. Launched on a Long March 3B rocket from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center, it carried a stationary lander and a small six-wheeled rover called Yutu, or Jade Rabbit. The landing took place in the Bay of Rainbows region of Mare Imbrium, on the northern near side of the Moon. It was the first soft landing by any spacecraft on the Moon since the Soviet Luna 24 in 1976. The rover suffered a mechanical failure as it prepared for the lunar night, but the lander kept working, and the mission provided data on the geology of the landing site and the lunar surface environment.

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