According to the giant impact hypothesis,the Moon was formed by the collision of a Mars-sized celestial body with proto-Earth,and the origin of the Moon is directly related to the initial evolution of Earth.The Moon h...According to the giant impact hypothesis,the Moon was formed by the collision of a Mars-sized celestial body with proto-Earth,and the origin of the Moon is directly related to the initial evolution of Earth.The Moon has no atmosphere,and its significant geological tectonic activity ceased in the very early stage;hence,it preserves the most complete evolution records of the habitable environment in the inner solar system,which was mainly controlled by asteroid impact and solar radiation.With development of space technology,the Moon has been taken as a target for future exploration and research[1–3].In 2004,China launched the Chang’e lunar exploration program.Since then,we have successfully achieved orbiting,landing,and returning,which are the key technologies for lunar exploration.The program has also returned the youngest lunar samples and conducted the first soft landing and in situ exploration on the far side of the Moon[4].Meanwhile,the Chinese government has announced its plan to send humans to the Moon by 2030 and has initiated a feasibility study for the international lunar research station program[5].With this context,we had the idea to organize a special issue of“Key Scientific Questions for Future Lunar Exploration”,which focuses on the thinking of Chinese scientists on key scientific issues,especially those related to manned lunar exploration in recent coming years,so as to provide inputs for condensing the scientific objectives of future lunar exploration missions.Space:Science&Technology was chosen because of its important influence in the fields of scientific research and engineering of lunar and planetary exploration.展开更多
文摘According to the giant impact hypothesis,the Moon was formed by the collision of a Mars-sized celestial body with proto-Earth,and the origin of the Moon is directly related to the initial evolution of Earth.The Moon has no atmosphere,and its significant geological tectonic activity ceased in the very early stage;hence,it preserves the most complete evolution records of the habitable environment in the inner solar system,which was mainly controlled by asteroid impact and solar radiation.With development of space technology,the Moon has been taken as a target for future exploration and research[1–3].In 2004,China launched the Chang’e lunar exploration program.Since then,we have successfully achieved orbiting,landing,and returning,which are the key technologies for lunar exploration.The program has also returned the youngest lunar samples and conducted the first soft landing and in situ exploration on the far side of the Moon[4].Meanwhile,the Chinese government has announced its plan to send humans to the Moon by 2030 and has initiated a feasibility study for the international lunar research station program[5].With this context,we had the idea to organize a special issue of“Key Scientific Questions for Future Lunar Exploration”,which focuses on the thinking of Chinese scientists on key scientific issues,especially those related to manned lunar exploration in recent coming years,so as to provide inputs for condensing the scientific objectives of future lunar exploration missions.Space:Science&Technology was chosen because of its important influence in the fields of scientific research and engineering of lunar and planetary exploration.
