Robert F. Wimmer-Schweingruber of the University of Kiel, Germany, which led the development of the Lunar Lander Neutrons and Dosimetry (LND) experiment, told SpaceNews that LND can, "help us understand the radiation which lunar soils and rocks are exposed to and to detect sub-surface water."

China's Chang'e series of lunar probes are part of a series leading up to ultimately returning samples of moon rock to the Earth. 
Credit: By Karl Tate, Infographics Artist

"Its main purpose, however, is to prepare for human exploration of the moon by measuring the radiation to which astronauts will be exposed," says Wimmer-Schweingruber, and specifically the neutron dose rate on the surface of the moon.

LND is one of four international payloads involved in the Chang'e-4 mission, along with the Advanced Small Analyzer for Neutrals (ASAN) from Sweden aboard the rover, the Netherlands-China Low-Frequency Explorer (NCLE) on Queqiao and a small camera on the Longjiang-2 microsatellite.

James Head, a planetary scientist at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, told SpaceNews in December that the Lunar Penetrating Radar (LPR), an instrument also aboard the Chang'e-3 rover, will provide images of the structure of the lunar soil layers and any subsurface lava flow units.

The Visible and Near-Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (VNIS), likewise installed on the mobile rover, will allow analysis of the mineralogy of the floor of Von Kármán crater and ejecta delivered by later, nearby impacts, according to Head.

The Low Frequency Spectrometer (LFS) payload on the Chang'e-4 lander will make astronomical observations in low frequency bands in a unique radio-quiet environment free of interference from the earth.

Another payload included in the mission through an outreach initiative is a small biosphere containing Arabidopsis and potato seeds along with silkworm cocoons, designed and developed in collaboration with 28 Chinese universities.

The experiment will be a pioneering test of photosynthesis and respiration in the one-sixth Earth gravity lunar environment, with a possible live steam to the 3-kilogram, 0.8-liter capacity cannister.

Anna-Lisa Paul, space biologist and research at University of Florida-Gainesville, told SpaceNews that the experiment will be unique, despite awealth of experiments that have grown plants and invertebrates in habitats on the Space Shuttle, the International Space Station, MIR, Skylab and others.

"We already know that plants, including Arabidopsis and potato, and silkworms do just fine in the microgravity of the spaceflight environments, so a climate-controlled biosphere on the surface of the moon will probably be reasonably benign, yet it is huge from the perspective that it has not been done."

  • This story was provided by SpaceNews, dedicated to covering all aspects of the space industry.