South Pole Aitken Basin, located on the back of the moon, is the largest, deepest and oldest impact basin on the moon, and also the largest crater in the solar system[2][17]。
The Antarctic Aitken Basin was formed by direct impact of small bodies, with a diameter of 2500 kilometers and a depth of about 13 kilometers[8]。Including Fensen impact crater, von Karman impact crater and other landforms[4]。In 1959, the Soviet Lunar III probe successfully took the first picture of the back of the moon[18]In 1968, Apollo 8 first observed the Antarctic Aitken Basin.[19]In 1994, the Clementine lunar probe of the United States obtained the global data on the back of the moon for the first time, and found that there was abnormal material composition in the Aitken Basin in Antarctica.[20]In 2019, China's Chang'e-4 lunar probe landed in the Von Kamen crater on the back of the moon, and deployed the Yutu 2 lunar rover to explore the Antarctic Aitken Basin.[17]On February 26, 2020, China's "Yutu II" first revealed the geological stratification structure 40 meters below the back of the moon.[19]
The formation of the Antarctic Aitken Basin can be traced back to about 4 billion years ago and is close to the period of the formation of the moon, which makes it an important window to study the history of the early solar system. It is of great scientific significance to reveal the dynamic evolution history outside the moon, establish an accurate time scale for the evolution of the moon, understand the dynamic evolution of the solar system's celestial orbit and the evolution of the Earth's livable environment,It is one of the breakthroughs in lunar science.[9-10]
From June 2 to 3, 2024, Chang'e 6 completed the intelligent and rapid sampling in the Antarctic Aitken Basin on the back of the moon. At 7:38 on June 4, Chang'e 6 took off from the back of the moon with the lunar samples. After about 6 minutes of operation of the 3000N engine, the riser was successfully put into the scheduled lunar orbit.[16]
Antarctica Aitken Basin, located on the back of the moon, is the largest crater in the solar system(Guinness World Records)[2-3]It accounts for nearly a quarter of the total surface area of the moon[23]It is 13 kilometers deep, and there are many impact craters and large and small stones on the surface.[24]The south pole of the moon has a low-lying crater bottom and a high mountain peak with complex terrain.[21]
climate
Some highlands in the polar region can be continuously exposed to the sun for several months or even longer without being affected by the shadow. With sufficient light, they are called "Yongdayfeng". Some areas near the South Pole are in darkness for a long time without being exposed to the sun, and are called permanent shadow areas.[21]
hydrology
In the shadow area, there may be "water ice", which brings hope for scientists to find water on the moon and even establish a lunar base.[14][21]
Lunar orthophoto map of Chang'e-4, dotted area is Aitken Basin
Research progress
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On October 7, 1959, the Soviet Lunar III probe successfully took the first picture of the back of the moon, which was the first time that humans saw the back of the moon,[18]In 1968, Apollo 8 first observed the Antarctic Aitken Basin.[19]In 1994, the Clementine lunar probe of the United States obtained global data on the back of the moon for the first time, and found that there was abnormal material composition in the Aitken Basin in Antarctica.[20]
At 10:26 on January 3, 2019, Chang'e-4 probe landed on the south pole of the back of the moon in the Von Kamen impact crater in Aitken Basin, realizing the first soft landing of human probe on the back of the moon, and sent back the world's first close shot image of the moon back through the "Queqiao" relay star, revealing the mystery of the ancient moon back.[5]On February 26, 2020, China's "Yutu II" revealed for the first time the geological stratification structure 40 meters underground on the back of the moon. The underground material consists of low loss lunar soil material and a large number of rocks of different sizes.[19][22]
In October 2023, Hu Hao, chief designer of the Chang'e 5 mission, said that the landing area of the Chang'e 6 mission was the South Pole Aitken Basin on the back of the moon.[3]
On May 3, 2024, the Chang'e 6 probe was launched by the Long March 5 Remote 8 carrier rocket at Wenchang Space Launch Site, China, and entered the Earth Moon transfer orbit accurately.On May 8, Chang'e 6 successfully implemented the near moon braking and successfully entered the lunar orbit[11]。At 6:23 on June 2, the Chang'e 6 lander and riser combination, supported by the Queqiao 2 relay satellite, successfully landed in the pre selected landing area of the South Pole Aitken Basin on the back of the moon.[7][12-13]The National Space Administration released the image of Chang'e-6 lunar landing.[15]At 7:38 on June 4, Chang'e 6 took off from the back of the moon with lunar samples. After the 3000N engine worked for about 6 minutes, the ascent was successfully sent to the scheduled lunar orbit.[16]
research findings
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On May 16, 2019,National Astronomical Observatory, Chinese Academy of SciencesIt was announced that the research team led by researcher Li Chunlai of the station used the Chang'e-4 exploration data to prove that there were deep materials mainly olivine and low calcium pyroxene in the Antarctic Aitken basin on the back of the moon.The international academic journal Nature published this important discovery online.This discovery provides direct evidence for answering the questions about the composition of the lunar mantle material that have puzzled scholars at home and abroad for a long time, and will provide support for improving the model of the formation and evolution of the moon.[1]
In 2020, the scientific team published an article on SCI journal Science China Information Sciences, pointing out that the impact during the formation of the Antarctic Aitken Basin is likely to penetrate the lunar crust and hit the deep lunar material.Since the orbiting satellite realized remote sensing observation on the back of the moon, a large number of studies have revealed that there are mafic anomalies at the bottom of the Antarctic Aitken Basin, which also have different chemical characteristics compared with the returned samples and lunar meteorites.Chang'e-4 found that the characteristics of mafic minerals in the Antarctic Aitken basin are similar to remote sensing data by detecting the sputtering layer at the bottom of the impact crater.[6]
research meaning
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The study of the Antarctic Aiken basin is of great significance for revealing the origin of lunar asymmetry, impact process, early evolution process and deep material composition.[25]The formation of the Antarctic Aitken Basin can be traced back to about 4 billion years ago and is close to the period of the formation of the moon. It is an important window to study the history of the early solar system. It is of great scientific significance to reveal the history of dynamic evolution outside the moon, establish an accurate time scale for the evolution of the moon, understand the dynamic evolution of the orbit of solar system celestial bodies and the evolution of the Earth's livable environment,It is one of the breakthroughs in lunar science.[9-10]
