The scientific objectives and payloads of Chang’E−4 mission

Chang’E−4 lunar explorer is the backup of the Chang’E−3, which is composed of a communication relay satellite, a lander and a rover, it is estimated that the Chang’E−4 explorer will be launched by the end of 2018, which is scheduled to land at the south pole Aitken Basin, and carry out the in situ detection and reconnaissance at the far side of the moon with the communication support of the relay satellite. Chang’E−4 mission has been planned to install six kinds of scientific payloads to complete the corresponding tasks, three kinds of payloads on the lander are the Landing Camera (LCAM), the Terrain Camera (TCAM), and the Low Frequency Spectrometer (LFS), and three kinds of payloads on the rover are the Panoramic Camera (PCAM), the Lunar Penetrating Radar (LPR), and the Visible and Near-Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (VNIS). The LFS is newly developed for Chang’E−4 lander, and other five kinds of payloads are the inherited instruments from Chang’E−3. Besides the above six payloads, there are also three international joint collaboration payloads to be installed on the Chang’E−4 explorer, which are the Lunar Lander Neutrons and Dosimetry(LND) installed on the lander, the Advanced Small Analyzer for Neutrals(ASAN) installed on the rover, Netherlands-China Low-Frequency Explorer (NCLE) installed on the relay satellite. The paper mainly discusses the Chang’E−4's scientific objectives, landing area overview, payloads configuration and system design, and the task for each payload with its main technology index.