Chinese astronomers shared the most detailed geological map of the Moon yet, revealing more than 12,000 structures. The new atlas will be essential for selecting landing sites and resource sites for future lunar missions.
The atlas, which took more than a decade to complete with around 100 researchers, captures the lunar surface in incredible detail, showing 14 categories of structures, 17 rock types, 81 impact basins and 12,341 craters.
Chinese scientists and cartographers began drawing the map in 2012. For this purpose, China launched, among others, a series of lunar probes, including Chang’e 1 and Chang’e 2, which were orbiters in charge of mapping the lunar surface. Other Chang’e missions have placed landers and rovers on the near and far side of the Moon (Chang’e 3 in 2013 and Chang’e 4 in 2019, respectively), while Chang’e 5 collected samples from the near side in 2020, according to the specialized site Space.com.
China is preparing to launch its Chang’e 6 lunar far-side sample return mission in early May. Ouyang Ziyuan, a prominent and well-known Chinese lunar scientist, said that the atlas provides information about the history of the moon, its resource distribution, and possible future exploration.
The Asian country plans to build a lunar base, known as the International Lunar Research Station (ILRS), in the 2030s and aims to send its first astronauts to the Moon before that decade.
