Analysis About Landing Site Selection and Prospective Scientific Objectives of the Von Kármán Crater in Moon Farside

Abstract

The Von Kármán crater，inside the South Pole-Aitken basin on the lunar farside，is initially selected as the landing area for Chinese Chang’E-4 mission. The in-situ exploration in the crater will reveal some essential problems about the formation and evolution of the Moon，which will be of great significance in the current Moon research. The geologic significances and scientific values of the Von Kármán crater are summarized. Thereafter，the distributions of topography，composition，deep structure，and temperature brightness of the Von Kármán crater are analyzed with LRO satellite LOLA data，Clementine UV-VIS data，GRAIL data，and Chang’E-2 CELMS data and their scientific meanings are also presented. Finally，combined with our results and the previous prospects about theVon Kármán crater，three candidate landing sites and the possible scientific discoveries are proposed.

Keywords

Chang'e-4 mission / Von Kármán crater / landing site selection / scientific significances