Compositional Studies of the Von Kármán Crater

Abstract

Chang’e-4 mission is expected to land within the Von Kármán crater on the lunar far side and provides an opportunity to in situ study the South Pole-Aitken basin which is the largest and oldest recognized impact basin on the Moon. Chemical compounds （TiO₂ and FeO） and mineralogical composition of the Von Kármán crater are analyzed based on several spectral data, which aims to provide more technical support for the future exploration in the Chang’e-4 mission. The Von Kármán crater is TiO₂-pool （about 1.5~2.5 wt%）, FeO-rich （about 12~16 wt%）, and infilled by low-Ti basalts. The materials outside the crater are dominated by noritic materials （Low-Ca pyroxene） with abundance of TiO₂（~1 wt%）and FeO（~10 wt%）. In addition, some plagioclase-rich layers are also exposed on the southern region outside the Von Kármán crater.

Keywords

Chang’e-4 mission / Von Kármán crater / composition