Development and characterization of the PolyU-1 lunar regolith simulant based on Chang’e-5 returned samples

Leading national space exploration agencies and private enterprises are actively engaged in lunar exploration initiatives to accomplish manned lunar landings and establish permanent lunar bases in the forthcoming years.With limited access to lunar surface materials on Earth,lunar regolith simulants are crucial for lunar exploration research.The Chang’e-5(CE-5)samples have been characterized by state-of-the-art laboratory equipment,providing a unique opportunity to develop a high-quality lunar regolith simulant.We have prepared a high-fidelity PolyU-1 simulant by pulverizing,desiccating,sieving,and blending natural mineral materials on Earth based on key physical,mineral,and chemical characteristics of CE-5 samples.The results showed that the simulant has a high degree of consistency with the CE-5 samples in terms of the particle morphology,mineral and chemical composition.Direct shear tests were conducted on the simulant,and the measured internal friction angle and cohesion values can serve as references for determining the mechanical properties of CE-5 lunar regolith.The PolyU-1 simulant can contribute to experimental studies involving lunar regolith,including the assessment of interaction between rovers and lunar regolith,as well as the development of in-situ resource utilization(ISRU)technologies.

Metallurgical performance evaluation of space-weathered Chang’e-5 lunar soil

Space metallurgy is an interdisciplinary field that combines planetary space science and metallurgical engineering.It involves systematic and theoretical engineering technology for utilizing planetary resources in situ.However,space metallurgy on the Moon is challenging because the lunar surface has experienced space weathering due to the lack of atmosphere and magnetic field,making the mi-crostructure of lunar soil differ from that of minerals on the Earth.In this study,scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy analyses were performed on Chang’e-5 powder lunar soil samples.The microstructural characteristics of the lunar soil may drastically change its metallurgical performance.The main special structure of lunar soil minerals include the nanophase iron formed by the impact of micrometeorites,the amorphous layer caused by solar wind injection,and radiation tracks modified by high-energy particle rays inside mineral crystals.The nanophase iron presents a wide distribution,which may have a great impact on the electromagnetic prop-erties of lunar soil.Hydrogen ions injected by solar wind may promote the hydrogen reduction process.The widely distributed amorph-ous layer and impact glass can promote the melting and diffusion process of lunar soil.Therefore,although high-energy events on the lun-ar surface transform the lunar soil,they also increase the chemical activity of the lunar soil.This is a property that earth samples and tradi-tional simulated lunar soil lack.The application of space metallurgy requires comprehensive consideration of the unique physical and chemical properties of lunar soil.

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.

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.

First-round design of the flight scenario for Chang’e-2’s extended mission:take off from lunar orbit

Chang＇e-2, Chinese second lunar probe, was inserted into a 100 km altitude low lunar orbit on October 9th, 2010, its purpose is to continuously photograph the lunar surface and possibly chosen landing sites for future lunar missions. The probe will still carry considerable amount of propellant after completing all prescribed tasks in about six months. After the successful launch of Chang＇e-2, we began designing the probe＇s subsequent flight scenario, considering a total impulse of 1 100 m/s for takeoff from low lunar orbit and a maximum 3× 10^6 km distance for Earth-probe telecom- munication. Our first-round effort proposed a preliminary flight scenario that involves consecutive arrivals at the halo orbits around the Earth-Moon L1/L2 and Sun-Earth L1/L2 points, near-Earth asteroid flyby, Earth return, and lunar impact. The designed solution of Chang＇e-2＇s subsequent flight scenario is a multi-segment flight trajectory that serves as a reference for making the final decision on Chang＇e-2＇s extended mission, which is a flight to the Sun-Earth L2 point, and a possible scheme of lunar impact via Earth flyby after remaining at the Sun-Earth L2 point was also presented. The proposed flight trajectory, which possesses acceptable solution accuracy for mission analysis, is a novel design that effectively exploits the invariant manifolds in the circular restricted three-body problem and the patched-manifold-conic method.

Rapid screening of Zr-containing particles from Chang’e-5 lunar soil samples for isotope geochronology:Technical roadmap for future study

New samples returned by China Chang’e-5(CE-5)mission offer an opportunity for studying the lunar geologic longevity,space weathering,and regolith evolution.The age determination of the CE-5 samples was among the first scientific questions to be answered.However,the precious samples,most in the micrometer size range,challenge many traditional analyses on large single crystals of zircon developed for massive bulk samples.Here,we developed a non-destructive rapid screening of individual zirconium-containing particle for isotope geochronology based on a Micro X-ray fluorescence analysis(μXRF).The selected particles were verified via scanning electron microscopy(SEM),3D X-ray microscopy(XRM),and focused ion beam scanning electron microscopy(FIB-SEM)techniques,which showed that zirconium-bearing minerals with several microns were precisely positioned and readily suitable for site-specific isotopic dating by second ion mass spectrometry(SIMS).Such protocol could be also appli-cable in non-destructively screening other types of particles for different scientific purposes.We there-fore proposed a correlative workflow for comprehensively studying the CE-5 lunar samples from single particles on nanometer to atomic scales.Linking various microscopic and spectromicroscopic instru-ments together,this workflow consists of six steps:(1)single-particle selection with non-destructive μXRF technique,(2)2D/3D morphological and structural characterization with a correlative submicron 3D XRM and nanoscale resolution FIB-SEM imaging methods,(3)SEM analysis of the surface morphology and chemistry of the selected particle,(4)a series of microscopic and microbeam analyses(e.g.,SEM,electron probe microanalysis,and SIMS)on the cross-section of the selected particle to obtain structural,mineralogical,chemical,and isotopic features from the micron to nanometer scale,(5)advanced 2D/3D characterization and site-specific sample preparation of thin foil/tip specimens on a microregion of inter-est in the selected particle with FIB-SEM technique,and(6)comprehensive analyses on the FIB-milled specimens at nanometer to atomic scale with synchrotron-based scanning transmission X-ray micro-scopy,analytic transmission electron microscopy,and atom probe tomography.Following this technical roadmap,one can integrate multiple modalities into a uniform frame of multimodal and multiscale cor-related datasets to acquire high-throughput information on the limited or precious terrestrial and extraterrestrial samples.

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.

Correlations between plasmapause evolutions and auroral signatures during substorms observed by Chang'e-3 EUV Camera

The plasmapause locations determined from the Chang'e-3(CE-3) Extreme Ultraviolet Camera(EUVC) images and the auroral boundaries determined from the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program(DMSP) Special Sensor Ultraviolet Spectrographic Imager(SSUSI) images are used to investigate the plasmaspheric evolutions during substorms. The most important finding is a nightside pointing plasmaspheric plume observed at 23:05 UT on 21 April 2014 under quiet solar wind and geomagnetic conditions, which drifted from the dusk sector. High correlations between the plasmapause evolutions and the auroral signatures exist during substorms. After substorm onset, the plasmapause erosion and the equatorward expansion of the auroral oval occur almost simultaneously in both MLT and UT, and then both the erosion and the expansion propagate westward and eastward. It is suggested that the plasmaspheric erosion and its MLT propagations are induced by the enhanced earthward plasma convection during substorm period, and the substorm dipolarization causes pitch-angle scattering of plasma sheet electrons and the resulting precipitation excites aurora emissions at the same time.

Deployment Reliability Test and Assessment for Landing Gear of Chang' E-3 Probe

Chang'E-3 probe incorporates four landing gears to assure the soft-landing,which are stowed while launching and deployed after separated from rocket. Deployment reliability is quite crucial for this mission. The deployment reliability test( DRT) method and assessment method were developed in this paper. Then DRT was conducted and the deployment reliability estimate of Chang'E-3probe was used to verify the proposed methods.

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.

Mapping of the lunar surface by average atomic number based on positron annihilation radiation from Chang'e-1

A map of the average atomic number of lunar rock and soil can be used to differentiate lithology and soil type on the lunar surface.This paper establishes a linear relationship between the average atomic number of lunar rock or soil and the flux of position annihilation radiation(0.512-Me V gamma-ray) from the lunar surface.The relationship is confirmed by Monte Carlo simulation with data from lunar rock or soil samples collected by Luna(Russia) and Apollo(USA) missions.A map of the average atomic number of the lunar rock and soil on the lunar surface has been derived from the Gamma-Ray Spectrometer data collected by Chang'e-1,an unmanned Chinese lunar-orbiting spacecraft.In the map,the higher average atomic numbers(ZA > 12.5),which are related to different types of basalt,are in the maria region;the highest ZA(13.2) readings are associated with Sinus Aestuum.The middle ZA(~12.1) regions,in the shape of irregular oval rings,are in West Oceanus Procellarum and Mare Frigoris,which seems to be consistent with the distribution of potassium,rare earth elements,and phosphorus as a unique feature on the lunar surface.The lower average atomic numbers(ZA < 11.5)are found to be correlated with the anorthosite on the far side of the Moon.

Reliability Design for the Landing Gear of Chang'E-3 Probe

Landing gear is one of the important components of Chang'E-3 Probe.The device was used to absorb the impact energy of Chang'E-3 Probe during the landing process.After landing on the moon,it can support the lander steadily for a long time.In order to assure the reliability of the landing gear and deal with the extremely severe landing conditions,many reliability measures were adopted in the design procedure,such as selection of cushion materials,optimization of mechanism configuration,design of deployment mode,allocation of buffer force and control of its variation.The successful landing on the moon of Chang'E-3 Probe has completely verified the high reliability of the landing gear.

Inversion of the Main Mineral Compositions and Subdivision of Tectonic Units on Lunar LQ-4 based on Chang'e Data

Spectra are sensitive in detecting main minerals on the lunar surface from visible light to infrared light. Since spectral characteristics of minerals are closely related to their compositions and the maturity level of soil on the Moon, studying the compositions and distribution of elements and minerals on the lunar surface can help to understand the evolution of the Moon through remote sensing technology. The correlation between the spectral characteristics of Chang＇e-1 interference imaging spectrometry（IIM） reflectance images and the mineral contents of LSCC（Lunar Soil Characterization Consortium） lunar surface mineral samples was discussed and the spatial distributions of Fe O and Al_2O_3 contained in both pyroxene and plagioclase on LQ-4 were studied using the improved angle parameter method, MNF, and band ratio statistics. A comparison of the mapping results of the optical models by Lucey, Shkuractov and other researchers on Clementine and the gamma ray spectrometry data shows that the content error is within 0.6% for lunar mare areas and close to 1% for the highland areas. The tectonic framework on the lunar surface was also investigated. And based on integrated analysis of previous findings on topography of the lunar surface, Chang＇e LAM, CCD and LOLA images and the gravity anomalies data（Clementine GLGM-2）, the tectonic unit subdivision was established for LQ-4, the idea of subdividing the lunar tectonic units was proposed, and this will provide a good foundation for studying the lunar tectonic evolution.

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.

Latest Scientific Results of China's Lunar and Deep Space Exploration(2022–2024)

China has successfully launched six lunar probes so far.From Chang'E-1 to Chang'E-4,they completed the circling,landing and roving exploration,of which Chang'E-4 was the first landing on the far side of the Moon in human history.Chang'E-5 was launched in December 2020,bringing back 1731 g of lunar soil samples.Through the detailed analysis of the samples,the scientists understand the history of late lunar volcanism,specifically extending lunar volcanism by about 800 million to 1 billion years,and proposed possible mechanisms.In addition,there are many new understandings of space weathering such as meteorite impacts and solar wind radiation on the Moon.China's first Mars exploration mission Tianwen-1 was successfully launched in July 2021.Through the study of scientific data,a number of important scientific achievements have been made in the topography,water environment and shallow surface structure of Mars.This paper introduces the main scientific achievements of Chang'E-4,Chang'E-5 and Tianwen-1 in the past two years,excluding technical and engineering contents.Due to the large number of articles involved,this paper only introduces part of the results.

Enhancing the vertical resolution of lunar penetrating radar data using predictive deconvolution

The Yutu-2 rover onboard the Chang’E-4 mission performed the first lunar penetrating radar detection on the farside of the Moon.The high-frequency channel presented us with many unprecedented details of the subsurface structures within a depth of approximately 50 m.However,it was still difficult to identify finer layers from the cluttered reflections and scattering waves.We applied deconvolution to improve the vertical resolution of the radar profile by extending the limited bandwidth associated with the emissive radar pulse.To overcome the challenges arising from the mixed-phase wavelets and the problematic amplification of noise,we performed predictive deconvolution to remove the minimum-phase components from the Chang’E-4 dataset,followed by a comprehensive phase rotation to rectify phase anomalies in the radar image.Subsequently,we implemented irreversible migration filtering to mitigate the noise and diminutive clutter echoes amplified by deconvolution.The processed data showed evident enhancement of the vertical resolution with a widened bandwidth in the frequency domain and better signal clarity in the time domain,providing us with more undisputed details of subsurface structures near the Chang’E-4 landing site.

Charging Properties and Particle Dynamics of Chang’e-5 Lunar Sample in an External Electric Field

Facing the challenges of in-situ utilization of lunar regolith resources,applying an external electric field to manipulate lunar particles has become a promising method for space particle control,which mainly depends on the particle charging properties in the applied electric field.Using the surficial lunar regolith samples brought back from the Moon by the Chang’e-5 mission(CE5 LS),this work successively studied their charging properties,particle dynamics,and their collision damages to aerospace materials under the action of an external electric field in high-vacuum conditions.The results indicated that the charging pro-cess and electrostatic projection of lunar regolith particles under high-vacuum conditions were different from those under atmosphere conditions.The particle diameter range of CE5 LS used in the experiment is 27.7-139.0 lm.For electric field strength of 3-12 kV·cm^(-1),the charge obtained by CE5 LS is 4.8×10^(-15)-4.7×10^(-13) C and the charge-to-mass ratio is 1.2×10^(-5)-6.8×10^(-4) C·kg^(-1).The CE5 LS is easier to be negatively charged in an external electric field.Furthermore,significant damages were observed on the target impact surfaces,indicating severe influences of lunar regolith particles on aerospace materials.Our work contributes to a more comprehensive understanding of physical mechanisms controlling the lunar regolith shielding and utilization,and will inspire broad efforts to develop the lunar in-situ engi-neering solutions.

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.

Introduction to the TT&C Scheme for Chang’e⁃5 Mission

Chang’e-5 mission is China’s first lunar sample return mission.It contains several new flight phases compared with the previous lunar missions,such as the lunar take-off and orbit insertion phase,the rendezvous and docking phase,etc.Chang’e-5 mission is extremely complicated and full of new challenges.This paper sorts out the characteristics and the difficulties in telemetry,tracking,and command(TT&C)of Chang’e-5 mission.The main technical contribution is a reliable general design of the TT&C system,including the application of X-band TT&C in launch and early orbit phase(LEOP),multiple targets simultaneous TT&C in X-band,lunar surface benchmark calibration,high-precision and rapid orbit trajectory determination for the lunar surface take-off,remote guidance rendezvous and docking,the determination of the initial navigational value for the separation point of the Chang’e-5 orbiter and returner,and the design of the reentry measurement chain.Based on this scheme,a global deep space TT&C network and interplanetary reentry measurement chain have been established for China,and near-continuous TT&C support for China’s first extraterrestrial object sampling and return mission has been realized,ensuring reliable tracking,accurate measurement and accurate control.The global deep space network can provide TT&C support comparable to that of National Aeronautics and Space Administration(NASA)and European Space Agency(ESA)for subsequent lunar and deep space exploration missions.The techniques of rapid trajectory determination of lunar take-off and orbit entry,as well as high precision and remote guidance of lunar orbit rendezvous and docking can lay a technological foundation for the future manned lunar exploration missions and planetary sampling and return missions.