Overview of the Latest Scientific Results of China's Lunar Exploration Program

Abstract

China's Chang'E-4 probe successfully landed on 3 January 2019 in Von Kármán crater within the South Pole-Aitken (SPA) basin on the lunar far side. Based on the data acquired by the scientific payloads onboard the lander and the rover, the researchers obtained the related information such as the geologic and tectonic setting of the landing area, compositional characteristics of the landing surface materials, dielectric permittivity and density of the lunar soil. The experiments confirmed the existence of materials dominated by olivine and low-calcium pyroxene in the SPA basin on the lunar far side, which preliminary revealed the geological evolution history of the SPA basin and even that of the early time lunar crust, as well as the tectonic setting and formation mechanism of the materials in the lunar interior. The researchers also inves-tigated the particle radiation, Linear Energy Transaction (LET) spectrum, and so forth on the lunar surface. The low-frequency radio observations were carried out on the lunar far side for the first time as well. This article summarizes the latest scientific results in the past years, focusing on the Chang'E-4 mission. Key words CLEP, Chang'E-4, Scientific objectives, Scientific payloads, Scientific results