As of 26 August 2020, The CNSA –China National Space Administration Belt and Road Initiative Lunar Mission on the One Hundred Kilometre diameter Von Karman Crater Chang’e 4 lander and the “Yutu 2” lunar rover the Chang’e-4 lander and the “Yutu-2” lunar rover have completed 21-month scientific exploration on the back of the moon. They broke through 600 days on August 25 and the rover travelled 519.29 meters. The scientific research team uses the data returned by the scientific payload to carry out a large number of studies and obtain many scientific results.
- Research on the morphology and mineral composition of the inspection area on the back of the moon. Using the visible and near-infrared spectrometer, panoramic camera and lunar radar data carried by the “Yutu-2” lunar rover, analyse the spectrum, rock distribution, and shallow structure of the landing area to obtain the morphology of the landing area and the composition of the material and minerals. , Source and characteristics of scientific conclusions. It is the first time to directly obtain the composition of the deep lunar material through in-situ exploration, revealing the complex impact history of the back of the moon, especially the Aitken Basin in Antarctica, providing key evidence for the formation and evolution of the lunar soil, and selecting sites for future Antarctic landings and inspections. Provide important reference.
- Research on the superficial structure of the moon’s surface in the inspection area on the back of the moon. Based on the lunar measuring radar and camera data of the Chang’e-4 lander and other multi-source data, research and establish the relationship between the formation profile of the Chang’e-4 landing area and the multi-phase sputter coverage. The accumulated thickness of the sputters in the landing area is about 70 meters, and the surface is the spatter of the Finsen impact crater; within the depth of the inspection area of 40 meters, there are 3 different stratigraphic units, including the fine-grained lunar soil layer within 12 meters, 12 24 meters of gravel layer and 24 meters to 40 meters of sputter deposition and weathering product layer. These results reveal for the first time the mystery of the underground structure on the back of the moon, greatly improving our understanding of the history of lunar impact and volcanic activity, and bringing new enlightenment to the study of geological evolution on the back of the moon.
- Lunar surface neutron and radiation dose, neutral atom research. Using the detection data of the Lunar Surface Neutron and Radiation Dose Detector and the Neutral Atom Detector of the Chang’e-4 lander, the environmental spectrum of high-energy particles on the lunar surface, the energy spectrum structure and albedo of the neutral atom on the lunar surface are obtained. The neutron radiation dose rate on the moon surface is 1-2 times higher than that inside the space station, and the radiation dose equivalent is about 1 times higher. It is confirmed that the primary galactic cosmic rays hit the surface of the moon, producing albedo protons (first discovered on the US Lunar Orbiter, this time it was verified on the moon surface). These results provide important support for conducting research on the microscopic interaction between the solar wind and the lunar surface, promote the understanding of lunar surface radiation risks, and provide an important reference for future lunar astronauts’ lunar surface radiation hazards estimation and radiation protection design.
- Moon-based low-frequency radio astronomy observation and research. Using the low-frequency radio spectrometer on the Chang’e-4 lander platform, the first successful low-frequency radio astronomical observation on the back of the moon was carried out, and a large amount of effective observation data was obtained. The preliminary acquisition of the electromagnetic environment background frequency spectrum and low-frequency radio three-component time-varying waveform data of the lunar landing zone below the frequency of 40MHz has important scientific significance for the study of solar low-frequency radio characteristics and the low-frequency radio environment of the moon surface.
截至今天，嫦娥四号着陆器和“玉兔二号”月球车在月球背面共完成21个月昼工作期的科学探索，在8月25日突破600天，月球车累积行驶519.29米。科研团队利用科学载荷传回的数据，开展大量研究，取得诸多科学成果。
1.月球背面巡视区形貌和矿物组份研究。利用“玉兔二号”月球车搭载的可见和近红外光谱仪、全景相机及测月雷达等数据，对着陆区光谱、石块分布、浅层结构等进行分析，获得着陆区形貌，物质矿物组成、来源及特性等科学结论。首次通过原位探测直接得到月球深部物质组成，揭示月球背面，特别是南极艾特肯盆地复杂的撞击历史，对月壤的形成与演化模型提供关键证据，为日后南极着陆和巡视探测选址等提供重要参考。
2.月球背面巡视区月表浅层结构研究。根据嫦娥四号着陆器测月雷达和相机数据以及其他多源数据，研究建立嫦娥四号着陆区地层剖面及多期次溅射物覆盖关系。着陆区溅射物累加厚度约70米，表面为芬森撞击坑溅射物；在巡视区深度40米范围内，存在3种不同地层单元，包括12米范围内的细粒月壤层、12米-24米的碎石层和24米-40米的溅射物沉积和风化产物层。这些结果首次揭开月球背面地下结构的神秘面纱，极大地提高我们对月球撞击和火山活动历史的理解，为月球背面地质演化研究带来新的启示。
3.月面中子及辐射剂量、中性原子研究。利用嫦娥四号着陆器月表中子与辐射剂量探测仪和中性原子探测仪探测数据，获得月表高能粒子辐射环境谱、月表中性原子能谱结构和反照率。月表中子辐射剂量率比空间站内部高1-2倍，辐射剂量当量高1倍左右。证实初级银河宇宙射线撞击月球表面，产生反照质子（最早在美国环月轨道器上被发现，此次在月表得到了实地验证）。这些成果为开展太阳风与月表微观相互作用研究提供重要支撑，促进对月表辐射风险的认知，为未来月球航天员所受月表辐射危害估算及辐射防护设计提供重要参考。
4.月基低频射电天文观测与研究。利用嫦娥四号着陆器平台的低频射电频谱仪，在月球背面首次成功开展低频射电天文观测，获得大量有效观测数据。初步获取40MHz频率以下的月背着陆区电磁环境本底频谱和低频射电三分量
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