Overview of the Latest Scientific Achievements of Chang’E-4 Mission of China’s Lunar Exploration Project

Abstract

On 3 January 2019, the Chang’E-4 probe successfully landed in the Von Kármán crater in the South Pole-Aitken Basin on the far side of the Moon. On 4 January, the Yutu-2 rover was successfully separated from the lander and the scientific payloads were powered on to conduct scientific exploration. It was the first time that man-made probe achieved soft landing and roving on the far side of the Moon. Based on the data obtained by scientific payloads on the Chang’E-4, the research team obtained geological information such as landing area topography, structure and composition; demonstrated the existence of deep materials—mainly olivine and low-calcium pyroxene in the South Pole-Aitken Basin; achieved high-precision imaging of the layered structure of lunar subsurface in the roving area; discovered carbonaceous spheroidal meteorite residues and impact glass; preliminarily revealed the geological evolutionary history of the South Pole-Aitken Basin; for the first time, obtained information of the radiation dose of energetic particles at the lunar surface and the structure of the lunar neutral atomic energy spectrum; discovered the lunar mini-magnetosphere and contributed new knowledge of the radiation hazards at the lunar surface. This article summarizes the latest scientific achievement from the Chang’E-4 mission over the past three years.