P11D-03:
Analysis of the Topographic and Morphological Characteristics of Chang'e 3 Landing Site

Monday, 15 December 2014: 8:24 AM
Han Li1, Chunlai Li2, Lingli Mu2, Xiaoduan Zou2, Jianjun Liu2, Xin Ren2 and Xingguo Zeng2, (1)National Astronomical Observatorie, Beijing, China, (2)National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
Abstract:
Chang’e 3 (CE-3) landed at (19.51ºW, 44.12ºN) in northwestern Mare Imbrium at 13:11 (GMT) on December 14, 2013, as China’s first mission to soft land on the Moon and explore the lunar surface. Employing CE-2 and CE-3 high-resolution topographic and imagery data, we analyze the background area (45 km × 70 km) of the landing site and the topographic, morphological, and lunar dust characteristics of the landing area. With CE-3 landing camera (LCAM) images, we extract information on the distribution of topographic elements, craters, boulders within 4 km × 4 km area of the landing site. In addition, we also analyze the effect of CE-3 engine on the distribution of lunar dust near the landing site. An area of 60 m × 135 m is affected with redistribution of dust and changed space weathering effect.