China's first lunar probe -- Chang'e 3 -- has entered its 33rd dormancy period, breaking an international record for the longest operational use of a lunar probe.

Chang'e 3 landed on the moon in December 2013, after making planetary observations. The probe made history one year later when it created the world's first geological section map of the moon. So far, Chang'e 3 has collected more than 7 terabytes of lunar data. China's National Space Agency has shared the data with thousands of Chinese universities and institutions for further research.