Near-infrared spectral characteristics and composition analysis of impact craters near the Chang’E-5 landing site

Abstract

Deep space exploration is an important way for mankind to innovate space science and technology, and to promote the development and utilization of space resources. Remote sensing technology plays an extremely important role in these exploration missions. Visible and near infrared reflectance spectra are the effective means to study the composition of celestial objects. The Chang’E-5 (CE-5) lunar exploration mission has achieved China’s first sample return from the moon, helping scientific research on the origin and evolution of the moon. The landing areas of CE-5 and Apollo 12 were located in the north and south of the Oceanus Procellarum, respectively. In this paper, the spectral data of the craters near the CE- 5 landing site and the similar Apollo 12 lunar rock (12063) spectrum with its mineral composition are compared and analyzed. The band area ratio method and the modified Gaussian model method were applied to study the spectral characteristics and mineral composition of these craters and rocks. The chemical compositions and evolutionary trends of major constituent minerals are consistent with the basalts returned by the Apollo missions. The spectral deconvolution results indicate that the mafic minerals in the crater rocks near the CE-5 landing site are dominated by clinopyroxene, followed by orthopyroxene and olivine, which is significantly lower than the orthopyroxene mineral abundance in the Apollo 12063 lunar rock. It may indicate that the young basalts of CE-5 landing area originate from the lunar mantle source region, which is rich in clinopyroxene and contains a small amount of olivine material. Remote sensing and space exploration help us solve many meaningful scientific problems. In general, remote sensing is an important and useful, even the only, means for us to understand the solar system and extrasolar celestial bodies.