Last week, the Chinese Academy of Sciences released the most detailed lunar atlas ever created. The map shows that the Moon has a total of 12,341 craters, 81 basins and 17 types of rocks.
To create the document, more than 100 researchers worked over a decade. “All questions in geology begin with looking at a geological map,” says Ross Mitchell, a geophysicist at the Institute of Geology and Geophysics in Beijing.
The new lunar atlas is “really a resource for the entire world,” Mitchell tells the magazine Nature.
Lithological map shows the rocks of the lunar soil. Image: Chinese Academy of Sciences/Reproduction
The atlas, which is available in Chinese and English, was assembled using data from China’s lunar exploration program, especially the Chang’e-1 mission, which surveyed the lunar surface from orbit between 2007 and 2009.
Observations made on the Moon’s surface by the Chang’e-3 and Chang’e-4 landing missions in 2013 and 2019, respectively, helped verify the accuracy of the Chang’e-1 data.
The Academy also published a tectonic map of the Moon. Image: Chinese Academy of Sciences/Reproduction
The atlas team also used data from missions such as the Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) and the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, both launched by NASA, and India’s Chandrayaan-1 probe.
China will use the maps to support its new lunar missions. Additionally, the maps will be beneficial to other countries as they carry out their own lunar missions.
With the updated atlas, scientists will be able to better understand the history of the Moon, evaluate potential lunar resources and carry out comparative geological studies. It will also inform location choices for future missions, including where to build a lunar research base.
New space race for the Moon
This decade has been marked by a true “space race” for the Moon. Space agencies and companies from around the world are planning missions to explore Earth’s natural satellite over the next few years.
The United States plans to send its astronauts to the Moon in 2026 with its Artemis 3 mission. China also intends to send its taikonauts in 2030.
Before sending crew members to the Moon, China intends to launch a mission called Chang’e 8, in 2028. The idea is that it will serve as a basis for the design of the future ILRS (International Lunar Research Station).
