A Hidden Lunar Mascon Under the South Part of Von Kármán Crater

Abstract

At a candidate area of lunar landing mission，a mascon anomaly may indicate historical complicated evolution of dynamics，and fruitful material composition. The lunar mascon distribution is usually obtained by means of satellite gravity method. The obtained gravity field information combined with the lunar topography information both from CE-1 lunar orbital mission show that a middle scale mason is just under the south half part of the Von Kármán Crater. This means that Von Kármán Crater is a younger crater following the older one. The discovery of this hidden middle scale mascon will benefit the study of lunar evolution，and also benefit the exploration of Von Kármán Crater in future Chang’E mission.

Keywords

lunar exploration / mascon / Chang’e-1 / Von Kármán crater