This is a lunar global topographic map with a grid size of 0.0625o×0.0625o based on the CE-1 lunar DEM model CLTM-s01. In Lambert Azimuthal Equal-Area projection, the left is the far side with centric longitude of 180oE and the right is the near side with central longitude of 0oE. The new topographic characteristics (highlighted by black circles in the figure) discovered by the CE-1 laser are the impact basin Fitzgerald-Jackson (25oN, 191oE) and the impact crater Wugang (13oN, 189oE) on the far side, and the volcanic deposit highland Yutu (14oN, 308oE) on the near side. Credit: Science in China Press

A huge amount of scientific data have been accumulated by the CE-1 lunar orbiter. Using laser altimeter data, Jinsong Ping and Qian Huang et al obtained improved 3D lunar topography, and based on this, they had made new discoveries (such as impact basins and volcanic deposit highlands) of some ancient topographic characteristics on the lunar surface. Chao Chen and Qing Liang et al found the South Pole-Aitken (SPA) basin as the biggest mascon on the moon and put forward a fault structure hypothesis for the Apenninue Mountain, which is significant for the study of the origin and evolution of the moon.

The above special-issue papers reporting on the Chang'E selenodesy results were jointly accomplished by experts from the Shanghai (SHAO), the China University of Geosciences (Wuhan) and other institutions. They will appear on Vol. 39 Issue 10 of the "Science in China Series G: Physics, Mechanics & Astronomy" and Vol. 54 Issue 20 of the Chinese Science Bulletin.

Since the 1990s, there has been a new worldwide upsurge of lunar exploration missions. As did the other lunar spacecrafts launched about the same time frame, the CE-1 lunar orbiter focused on selenodesy so that it could remedy the low resolution and poor coverage problems of past data, and would open the door to recovering lunar evolution by detecting new lunar topography, gravity fields or interior structures. Furthermore, it would prepare for future Chinese spacecraft landing on the surface of the moon.

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