Jia, and five co-authors, reported in 2020 that Chang’e-5 (CE-5) is the first sample-return mission of China’s lunar exploration and will be launched in 2020. The planned landing area is near Mons Rümker in Oceanus Procellarum. It is important to have a detailed geological analysis of the landing area prior to the lunar sample collection. The crater size frequency distribution curve, combined with radioisotope dating of components of the returned sample by CE-5, may allow a refinement of the lunar chronology function. Based on a digital orthophoto map with a pixel size of 1.5 m generated from more than 700 Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera Narrow Angle Camera images of the CE-5 landing area, all impact craters larger than 200 m in diameter were extracted.
Using the resultant crater catalog of 32,277 craters, a systematic analysis of the landing area including the crater distribution, morphology characteristics, and geologic model ages is conducted. The results show that craters smaller than 1,000 m are denser in the east and the west parts of the region, while those larger than 1,000 m tend to be more concentrated in the central part, particularly within the range of 61.5â—¦W–64.5â—¦W.
Within nine geologic units divided using the spectral characteristics, the geologic unit of Em1 (Eratosthenian-aged mare, Em) near the Mons Rümker is the youngest with a model age of 2.02+0.16 −0.16 Ga. The three Rümker plateau (IR) units are the oldest parts of the landing area with the largest model age of 3.49+0.073 −0.12 Ga. The crater catalog and the surface model age analysis results can contribute to the CE-5 mission as well as further scientific research.
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