A young multilayered terrane of the northern Mare Imbrium revealed by Chang'E-3 mission

• Published in: Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) 2015-03, Vol.347 (6227), p.1226-1229
• Main Authors: Xiao, Long, Zhu, Peimin, Fang, Guangyou, Xiao, Zhiyong, Zou, Yongliao, Zhao, Jiannan, Zhao, Na, Yuan, Yuefeng, Qiao, Le, Zhang, Xiaoping, Zhang, Hao, Wang, Jiang, Huang, Jun, Huang, Qian, He, Qi, Zhou, Bin, Ji, Yicai, Zhang, Qunying, Shen, Shaoxiang, Li, Yuxi, Gao, Yunze
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Boulders; Cameras; Chinese spacecraft; Geology; Lava; Lunar maria; Lunar roving vehicles; Moon; Planetology; Spacecraft; Volcanology
• ISSN: 0036-8075; 1095-9203
• DOI: 10.1126/science.1259866

China's Chang'E-3 (CE-3) spacecraft touched down on the northern Mare Imbrium of the lunar nearside (340.49°E, 44.12°N), a region not directly sampled before. We report preliminary results with data from the CE-3 lander descent camera and from the Yutu rover's camera and penetrating radar. After the landing at a young 450-meter crater rim, the Yutu rover drove 114 meters on the ejecta blanket and photographed the rough surface and the excavated boulders. The boulder contains a substantial amount of crystals, which are most likely plagioclase and/or other mafic silicate mineral aggregates similar to terrestrial dolerite. The Lunar Penetrating Radar detection and integrated geological interpretation have identified more than nine subsurface layers, suggesting that this region has experienced complex geological processes since the Imbrian and is compositionally distinct from the Apollo and Luna landing sites.