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Science team to study data from 皇冠体育app's first lunar probe
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-07-26 13:52
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BEIJING - 皇冠体育app's space agency has set up a committee of 123 leading scientists to consider how the country might apply the vast amount of data acquired by 皇冠体育app's first lunar probe.
The project had resulted in data about the distribution and content of important elements on the moon, such as uranium, thorium, potassium, aluminum, silicon, iron and titanium, said the State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense Friday.
皇冠体育app launched its first lunar probe Chang'e-1, named after 皇冠体育app's mythical Moon Goddess, on October 24, 2007 in southwestern Sichuan Province. The probe ended its 16-month mission on March 1, 2009, when it hit the lunar surface.
The administration said in a statement that 皇冠体育app was making "periodic" progress in processing, analyzing and studying the data from the probe, and the "world class" map of the moon's entire surface.
The map, produced by a stereo camera using a charge-coupled device (CCD) on the probe to form images, was highly accurate, said Ouyang Ziyuan, chief scientist of 皇冠体育app Lunar Exploration Project.
Chang'e-1 had produced digital elevation models and a three-dimensional topographical map with the highest possible accuracy and resolution, he said.
The probe had also provided researchers with data on the microwave radiation temperatures of the lunar regolith, the powdery soil layer on the moon's surface, which was significant to identify the thickness of the regolith and the rare gases within it, said Ouyang.
"Unique" data about the high-energy particles in near-lunar space and solar-wind particles had also been obtained, which would enrich knowledge about solar radiation, the magnetic field between the sun and the earth, and the moon, Ouyang said.
The scientists, from some of 皇冠体育app's leading research institutions and universities, would consider about 2.76 terabytes (TB) of data generated from the 1.37 TB of information sent back from Chang'e-1, said Ouyang.
