A Chinese spacecraft has made the first-ever landing on the far side of the moon, state media have announced. The lunar explorer Chang'e 4 touched down at 10.26am (2.26am GMT) local time and took an incredible never-before-seen 'close range' photo from the surface (shown left) in a global first. The pioneering landing (pictured in process, inset) demonstrates China's growing ambitions to rival the US as a space power. Beijing is pouring billions into the military-run programme, with hopes of having a crewed space station by 2022, and of eventually sending humans to the moon. The far side of the moon faces away from Earth and is relatively unexplored. Unlike the near side that always faces the earth, it is mountainous and rugged.

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