The Chang'e 4 lunar probe, representing China's latest step in lunar investigation, landed at 10:26 am at the Von Karman crater in the South Pole-Aitken basin and then sent back three photos of the landing site shot by cameras on the probe's lander, marking the world's first images taken on the surface of the far side. 

One of the photos, published by the China National Space Administration, shows the place where Chang'e 4's rover, which was named Yutu 2 on Thursday night, will be heading to explore and survey. 

Thus began the first expedition to the side of the moon that faces away from the Earth. It is meant to fulfill scientists' long-held aspiration to closely observe the lesser known region. 

Tidal forces on Earth slow the moon's rotation to the point that the same side always faces Earth. Most of the far side is never visible from Earth.

While it has been extensively photographed by spacecraft, starting with a Soviet probe in 1959, no probe had ever made a soft landing there, so scientists had not been able to conduct surface-level observations and surveys of the region. 

According to the China National Space Administration, Chang'e 4's landing procedure started at 10:15 am, when it began its descent from an orbit 15 kilometers above the surface, following control signals from the Beijing Aerospace Control Center transmitted through China's Queqiao relay satellite. 

The probe made position adjustments when it reached 6 to 8 kilometers above the moon. The descent then paused at about 100 meters above the surface as the spacecraft analyzed the gradient of the preset landing site as well as any possible obstacles in order to avoid hazards. 

After an exact landing area was determined, Chang'e 4 resumed its descent at a slow velocity and finally touched down, the administration said in a statement. 

Shortly afterward, the probe unfolded its solar arrays and antennas and established a high-speed data link through Queqiao, it said. 

Wu Weiren, chief designer of China's lunar program, said in Beijing on Thursday after the landing that the descent and landing "were perfect".