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

• Published in: 天文和天体物理学研究：英文版 2014 (12), p.1511-1513
• Main Author: Wing-Huen Ip Jun Yan Chun-Lai Li Zi-Yuan Ouyang
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: X射线光谱仪; 成像光谱仪; 月球探测计划; 月球车; 登月计划; 着陆器; 着陆过程; 遥感仪器
• ISSN: 1674-4527; 2397-6209

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.