In situ optical measurements of Chang'E‐3 landing site in Mare Imbrium: 1. Mineral abundances inferred from spectral reflectance

Abstract

Abstract The visible and near‐infrared imaging spectrometer on board the Yutu Rover of Chinese Chang'E‐3 mission measured the lunar surface reflectance at a close distance (~1 m) and collected four spectra at four different sites. These in situ lunar spectra have revealed less mature features than that measured remotely by spaceborne sensors such as the Moon Mineralogy Mapper instrument on board the Chandrayaan‐1 mission and the Spectral Profiler on board the Kaguya over the same region. Mineral composition analysis using a spectral lookup table populated with a radiative transfer mixing model has shown that the regolith at the landing site contains high abundance of olivine. The mineral abundance results are consistent with that inferred from the compound measurement made by the on board alpha‐particle X‐ray spectrometer.