BEIJING — The China National Space Administration on Dec 4 released images showing China's national flag unfurled from the Chang'e-5 probe on the moon.

The images were taken by a panoramic camera installed on the lander-ascender combination of the probe, before the ascender blasted off from the moon with lunar samples late on Dec 3.

In one of the images, a robotic arm to collect lunar samples can be seen next to the flag.

China's Chang'e-5 probe was launched on Nov 24, and its lander-ascender combination touched down on the north of the Mons Rumker in Oceanus Procellarum, also known as the Ocean of Storms, on the near side of the moon on Dec 1.

After the samples were collected and sealed, the ascender of Chang'e-5 took off from the lunar surface late on Dec 3, and is expected to carry out unmanned rendezvous and docking with the orbiter-returner in lunar orbit, an unprecedented feat.

Chang'e-5 is one of the most complicated and challenging missions in Chinese aerospace history, as well as the world's first moon-sample mission in more than 40 years.