By China became the second nation to plant its flag on the Moon after United States.
Earlier, the US planted the first flag on the Moon during the Apollo mission in 1969. In the Apollo programme, which first put men on the moon, the US landed 12 astronauts over six flights from 1969 to 1972, bringing back 382 kg (842 pounds) of rocks and soil.
On Friday, the China National Space Administration (CSNA) released pictures of Chinese flag placed on the lunar surface.
The pictures were taken as China’s Chang’e-5 lunar vehicle finished collecting samples of lunar rocks and soil more than a day ahead of schedule in the first lunar sample retrieval mission since the 1970s.
The Chinese spacecraft, which was launched on November 23, landed on the moon’s surface on Tuesday — becoming the third spacecraft to successfully land on the Moon in the 21st century, the country’s space agency said.
Late on Tuesday, the Chang’e-5 spacecraft successfully deployed a pair of landing and ascending vehicles onto the moon’s surface. The plan was to collect 2 kg (4.4 pounds) of samples.
The robotic vehicle has stored the samples and lifted off from the surface with the orbiting Chang’e-5 for the return journey to Earth.
