Abstract
Chang’e 4 is a robotic lunar exploration mission operated by the China National Space Administration and was to pull off the first-ever soft landing of space hardware on the mysterious lunar far side. The Visible and Near-IR Imaging Spectrometer (VNIS) is one of the main scientific instruments onboard the Chang’e 4 lunar rover. In order to analyze the lunar surface mineral composition, the VNIS was mounted on the front of the rover and detects lunar objects with a 45° visual angle to obtain spectra and geometry data to make mineralogical and compositional measurements. The VNIS is the same as the one in the Chang’e 3 Yutu rover and consists of a visible and near-infrared imaging spectrometer (0.45–0.95 µm), a shortwave IR spectrometer (0.9–2.4 µm), and a calibration unit with dust-proofing functionality. Here, we describe detection and calibration characteristics of the VNIS, which provides valuable information for scientific data processing and applications.
Highlights
Chang’e 4 is a robotic lunar exploration mission and it was to pull off the first-ever soft landing of space hardware on the mysterious lunar far side
An imaging spectrometer based on acousto-optic tunable filter (AOTF) is especially suitable for deep space exploration applications (Moon, Mars, and asteroid detection)
Compared with the one onboard Chang’e-3 spacecraft, the new visible and near-IR imaging spectrometer (VNIS) is for the measurement on the far side of lunar and has been upgraded in the control software, optimized in the logic and efficiency of data acquisition, and added a step of stray light measurement for the 0-order beam produced by acoustooptic interaction for the purpose of higher accurate radiation quantification
Summary
Chang’e 4 is a robotic lunar exploration mission and it was to pull off the first-ever soft landing of space hardware on the mysterious lunar far side. The visible and near-IR imaging spectrometer (VNIS) is an AOTF-based imaging spectrometer; after soft landing on the moon, the VNIS was involved mostly in the exploration of the lunar surface mineral composition and available resource. the VNIS is mounted on the front of the Yutu-2 rover with a 45○ visual angle to obtain the spectra and the geometry images at a height of 0.69 m. The spectral range of VNIS is 0.45–2.40 μm, with a spectral resolution of 2.4–9.6 nm Minerals such as pyroxene, plagioclase, olivine, and ilmenite, in different sizes and shapes, constitute most of the lunar surface rocks. Plagioclase, olivine, and ilmenite, in different sizes and shapes, constitute most of the lunar surface rocks They have distinctive spectral characteristics in the visible and near-infrared (VIS/NIR) waveband (0.45–0.95 μm) and the shortwave infrared (SWIR) waveband (0.90–2.40 μm).. This paper describes the detection and calibration characteristics of the VNIS, which provides valuable information for scientific data processing and applications
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