Chang'e 3 / Yutu photos released...

Chang'e 3 / Yutu photos released...  Chang'e 3 is the Chinese robotic lunar lander that successfully touched down on the moon in December 2013.  Yutu is the lunar rover that deployed from Chang'e 3 and was able to do some science work (and take photos!) before it broke down.  The Chinese space agency just released a trove of photos, including the one at right (glorious full resolution version).

I still marvel that our understanding of the moon went from the fuzzy photos and wild speculation of my youth to the the close, high resolution photos and detailed knowledge of today.  I remember well how serious scientists in the mid-'60s warned NASA that the Apollo lunar landers were likely to be swallowed up by the miles-thick powdery dust that likely blanketed the moon's surface.  Not so much :)