The rover Chang'e-4, which is named after the moon goddess in Chinese mythology, landed at 10:26 a.m. Beijing time in the South Pole-Aitken Basin, which is an impact crater, state news agency Xinhua reported.
The United States and the Soviet Union have made a "soft landing" on the moon -- China landed a rover there in 2013 -- but no other country has touched down on the dark side of the moon, which always faces away from the Earth.