Nomenclature for lunar features at the Chang＇e-3 landing site

Nomenclatures for lunar features always accompany the progresses of human lunar exploration,which has an important dual meaning in culture and science. The naming of lunar features not only can commemorate the outstanding contributions of academics,masters in various fields, and popularize the traditional cultures of ethnic groups all over the world, but also have a critical function of providing accurate indicative information on features with special morphology, origin, nature and scientific value. However, nomenclature for features at the Chang'e-3 landing site, which has a more arbitrary form without many constrains posed by a uniformed system, is unlike the features for other morphological units.This paper originated from the actual needs for the description of scientific exploration activities, interpretation of scientific research and dissemination of scientific results. Some prominent morphological units with great scientific importance and identification purpose were chosen from the images taken by the terrain camera, panorama cameras and landing camera onboard the Chang'e lander and Yutu rover. A nomenclature system was established under the three enclosures, four quadrants and twenty-eight lunar lodges' system of the Chinese ancient sky division method. Finally, a standard feature names set waspublished after some necessary approval procedures by the International Astronomical Union.

Lunar Penetrating Radar onboard the Chang'e-3 mission

Lunar Penetrating Radar （LPR） is one of the important scientific instru- ments onboard the Chang＇e-3 spacecraft. Its scientific goals are the mapping of lunar regolith and detection of subsurface geologic structures. This paper describes the goals of the mission, as well as the basic principles, design, composition and achievements of the LPR. Finally, experiments on a glacier and the lunar surface are analyzed.

Development and calibration of the Moon-based EUV camera for Chang'e-3

The process of development and calibration for the first Moon-based ex- treme ultraviolet （EUV） camera to observe Earth＇s plasmasphere is introduced and the design, test and calibration results are presented. The EUV camera is composed of a multilayer film mirror, a thin film filter, a photon-counting imaging detector, a mech- anism that can adjust the direction in two dimensions, a protective cover, an electronic unit and a thermal control unit. The center wavelength of the EUV camera is 30.2 nm with a bandwidth of 4.6nm. The field of view is 14.7° with an angular resolution of 0.08°, and the sensitivity of the camera is 0.11 count s-1 Rayleigh-1. The geomet- ric calibration, the absolute photometric calibration and the relative photometric cal- ibration are carried out under different temperatures before launch to obtain a matrix that can correct geometric distortion and a matrix for relative photometric correction, which are used for in-orbit correction of the images to ensure their accuracy.

Data processing and preliminary results of the Chang'e-3 VIS/NIR Imaging Spectrometer in-situ analysis

The Chang＇e-3 Visible and Near-infrared Imaging Spectrometer （VNIS） is one of the four payloads on the Yutu rover. After traversing the landing site during the first two lunar days, four different areas are detected, and Level 2A and 2B ra- diance data have been released to the scientific community. The released data have been processed by dark current subtraction, correction for the effect of temperature, radiometric calibration and geometric calibration. We emphasize approaches for re- flectance analysis and mineral identification for in-situ analysis with VNIS. Then the preliminary spectral and mineralogical results from the landing site are derived. After comparing spectral data from VNIS with data collected by the Ma instrument and samples of mare that were returned from the Apollo program, all the reflectance data have been found to have similar absorption features near 1000 nm except lunar sample 71061. In addition, there is also a weak absorption feature between 1750-2400nm on VNIS, but the slopes of VNIS and Ma reflectance at longer wavelengths are lower than data taken from samples of lunar mare. Spectral parameters such as Band Centers and Integrated Band Depth Ratios are used to analyze mineralogical features. The results show that detection points E and N205 are mixtures of high-Ca pyroxene and olivine, and the composition of olivineat point N205 is higher than that at point E, but the compositions of detection points S3 and N203 are mainly olivine-rich. Since there are no obvious absorption features near 1250 nm, plagioclase is not directly identified at the landing site.

Preface: The Chang'e-3 lander and rover mission to the Moon

The Chang＇e-3 （CE-3） lander and rover mission to the Moon was an in- termediate step in China＇s lunar exploration program, which will be followed by a sample return mission. The lander was equipped with a number of remote-sensing instruments including a pair of cameras （Landing Camera and Terrain Camera） for recording the landing process and surveying terrain, an extreme ultraviolet camera for monitoring activities in the Earth＇s plasmasphere, and a first-ever Moon-based ultravi- olet telescope for astronomical observations. The Yutu rover successfully carried out close-up observations with the Panoramic Camera, mineralogical investigations with the VIS-NIR Imaging Spectrometer, study of elemental abundances with the Active Particle-induced X-ray Spectrometer, and pioneering measurements of the lunar sub- surface with Lunar Penetrating Radar. This special issue provides a collection of key information on the instrumental designs, calibration methods and data processing pro- cedures used by these experiments with a perspective of facilitating further analyses of scientific data from CE-3 in preparation for future missions.

Data preprocessing and preliminary results of the Moon-based Ultraviolet Telescope on the CE-3 lander

The Moon-based Ultraviolet Telescope （MUVT） is one of the payloads on the Chang＇e-3 （CE-3） lunar lander. Because of the advantages of having no at- mospheric disturbances and the slow rotation of the Moon, we can make long-term continuous observations of a series of important celestial objects in the near ultra- violet band （245-340 nm）, and perform a sky survey of selected areas, which can- not be completed on Earth. We can find characteristic changes in celestial brightness with time by analyzing image data from the MUVT, and deduce the radiation mech- anism and physical properties of these celestial objects after comparing with a phys- ical model. In order to explain the scientific purposes of MUVT, this article analyzes the preprocessing of MUVT image data and makes a preliminary evaluation of data quality. The results demonstrate that the methods used for data collection and prepro- cessing are effective, and the Level 2A and 2B image data satisfy the requirements of follow-up scientific researches.

High precision landing site mapping and rover localization for Chang'e-3 mission

This paper presents the comprehensive results of landing site topographic mapping and rover localization in Chang’e-3 mission.High-precision topographic products of the landing site with extremely high resolutions(up to 0.05 m)were generated from descent images and registered to CE-2 DOM.Local DEM and DOM with 0.02 m resolution were produced routinely at each waypoint along the rover traverse.The lander location was determined to be(19.51256°W,44.11884°N,-2615.451 m)using a method of DOM matching.In order to reduce error accumulation caused by wheel slippage and IMU drift in dead reckoning,cross-site visual localization and DOM matching localization methods were developed to localize the rover at waypoints;the overall traveled distance from the lander is 114.8 m from cross-site visual localization and 111.2 m from DOM matching localization.The latter is of highest accuracy and has been verified using a LRO NAC image where the rover trajeactory is directly identifiable.During CE-3 mission operations,landing site mapping and rover localization products including DEMs and DOMs,traverse maps,vertical traverse profiles were generated timely to support teleoperation tasks such as obstacle avoidance and rover path planning.

Technological advancements and promotion roles of Chang'e-3 lunar probe mission

The mission objective of Chang’e-3 lunar probe is to achieve our first soft-landing and roving exploration on celestial bodies beyond Earth.On the basis of analyzing technological characteristics in the probe development,key technology breakthroughs and technological promoting roles of Chang’e-3 are both described.

Subsurface Structures at the Chang'e-3 Landing Site: Interpretations from Orbital and In-Situ Imagery Data

The Chang＇e-3（CE-3） spacecraft successfully landed on one of the youngest mare surfaces on the Moon in December 2013. The Yutu rover carried by CE-3 was equipped with a radar system that could reveal subsurface structures in unprecedented details, which would facilitate understanding regional and global evolutionary history of the Moon. Based on regional geology, cratering scaling, and morphological study, here we quantify the subsurface structures of the landing site using high-resolution orbital and in-situ imagery data. Three layers of lunar regolith, two layers of basalt units, and one layer of ejecta deposits are recognized at the subsurface of the landing site, and their thicknesses are deduced based on the imagery data. These results could serve as essential references for the on-going interpretation of the CE-3 radar data. The ability to validate our theoretical subsurface structure using CE-3 in-situ radar observations will improve the methods for quantifying lunar subsurface structure using crater morphologies and scaling.

The preliminary processing and analysis of LPR Channel-2B data from Chang'E-3

The Lunar Penetrating Radar(LPR)carried by Chang’E-3 has imaged the shallow subsurface of the landing site at the northern Mare Imbrium.The antenna B of the Channel-2 onboard the LPR(LPR Channel-2B)has collected more than 2000 traces of usable raw data.Because of the low resolution and noise of the raw data,only a few shallow geological structures are visible.To improve the resolution and the signal-to-noise ratio of the LPR data,we processed the LPR data including amplitude compensation,filtering,and deconvolution processes.The processing results reveal that the data processing in this study not only improves the signal-to-noise ratio of the LPR Channel-2B data but also makes the geological structures vivid.The processing results will lay the foundation for the subsequent geological interpretation and physical property inversion of lunar materials.

New high-accuracy spacecraft VLBI tracking using high data-rate signal:A demonstration with Chang'E-3

As the scientific data volume in deep-space exploration rapidly grows,spacecraft heavily relies on high data-rate signals that span several megahertz to transmit data back to Earth.Employing high data-rate signals for high-accuracy radiometric interferometry can simultaneously deal with data transmission and spacecraft navigation.We demonstrate very long baseline interferometry(VLBI)tracking of the Chang’E-3 lander and rover to determine their relative lunar-surface position using downlink high data-rate signals.A new method based on the VLBI phase-referencing technique is proposed to obtain the differential phase delay,which is much more accurate than the differential group delay acquired by conventional VLBI approaches.The systemic errors among different signal channels have been well calibrated using the new method.The data from the Chang’E-3mission were then processed,and meter-level accuracy positions of the rover with respect to the lander have been obtained.This demonstration shows the feasibility of high-accuracy radiometric interferometry using high data-rate signals.The method proposed in this paper can also be applied to future deep-space navigation.

Reflectance calibration and shadow effect of VNIS spectra acquired by the Yutu rover

Yutu is the first lunar rover after the Apollo program and Luna missions. One of the payloads on the Yutu rover, the Visible and Near-infrared Imaging Spectrometer （VNIS）, has acquired four VIS/NIR images and SWIR spectra near its landing site in Mare Imbrium. The radiance images were reduced through repairing bad lines and bad points, and applying flat field correction, and then were converted into reflectance values based on the solar irradiance and angles of incidence. A significant shadow effect was observed in the VIS/NIR image. The shadowed regions show lower reflectance with a darkening trend compared with illuminated regions. The re- flectance increased by up to 24% for entire images and 17% for the VIS/NIR-SWlR overlapping regions after shadow correction. The correction for the shadow effect will remarkably decrease the estimate of FeO content, by up to 4.9 wt.% in this study. The derived FeO contents of CD-005-008 after shadow correction are around 18.0 wt.%.