China's Moon mission probe has sent back its first color photos, capturing a panoramic view that stretches from the lunar "soil" directly under the lander's legs and out to the horizon, the BBC reported.

The Chang’e-5 mission touched down Tuesday and immediately began gathering rock and dust samples to send back to Earth, China Xinhua News tweeted. 

The samples will be dispatched to an orbiting spacecraft that’ll carry them home, a transfer that could happen as early as Thursday, the BBC reported.

Chang'e-5 is the third Chinese mission to make a soft landing on the lunar surface in seven years, the BBC reported. Two previous ventures —  Chang'e-3 and Chang'e-4 — both put down static landers and small rovers.

The latest venture is more complex.

An 8.2-ton spacecraft "stack" was launched from Earth just over a week ago. The multi-module probe then split in two after going into orbit around the lunar body over the weekend, the news outlet reported.

A lander and ascender went down to the surface; a shepherding service vehicle and atmospheric re-entry module remained aloft, the BBC reported.

The last time rock and dust were returned from the Moon was 44 years ago, when about 800 pounds were picked up by U.S. Apollo astronauts and the Soviets' robotic Luna landers, the BBC reported. The samples were ancient, some more than 3 billion years old.

The Chang'e-5 mission is targeting materials from a high volcanic region called Mons Rümker. Samples from the location may be no more than 1.2 or 1.3 billion years old and reveal new insights on the geological history of the Moon, the BBC reported.

• China's Space Ambitions: Robot on Mars, a Human on the Moon
• NASA 'Hard-Pressed to Land Astronauts on the Moon' by 2024