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Close-up of Long Yan (Pyramid Rock) taken by the Chinese lunar rover Yutu

Image Credit: Chinese Academy of Sciences/China National Space Administration

Images from China's lunar lander show spectacular surface detail.

Images maps and other data from the Chinese lunar mission Chang'e 3 with its rover, Yutu, are now available from the Chinese Planetary Data System, maintained by the National Astronomical Observatories of China (NAOC). There appear to be problems accessing the new release of hundreds of images from the NAOC website for overseas users, but the Planetary Society has made them available and editor Emily Lakdawalla has processed some of them (including the ones shown here). Lakdawalla's blog for the Planetary Society gives details of the images available from Chang'e 3 and expected further data that may be released – from the ultraviolet camera, for example. The Planetary Society also has a blog post by Quanzhi Ye giving details of how to get hold of the images from the Chinese site.