文摘
The strategic plan for the development of the unmanned Chinese Lunar Exploration Program is characterized by three distinct stages: “orbiting around- “landing on-and “returning from-the Moon. The first Chinese lunar probe, Chang’E-1, which was successfully launched on October 24th, 2007 at Xichang Satellite Launch Center, and guided to crash on the Moon on March 1st, 2009, at 52.36°E, 1.50°S, in the north of Mare Fecunditatis, is the first step towards the “orbiting around-stage. The Chang’E-1 mission lasted 495 days, exceeding the expected life-span by about four months. A total of 1.37 TB raw data was received from Chang’E-1. It was then processed into 4 TB scientific data products at various levels. Many scientific results have been obtained by analyzing these data, including especially the “global lunar image from the first Chinese lunar exploration mission- All scientific goals of Chang’E-1 have been achieved. It provides much useful materials for further advances of lunar sciences and planetary chemistry. Meanwhile, these results will serve as a firm basis for future Chinese lunar missions.