PS1.5 | Scientific discoveries of China's Lunar and Deep Space exploration program: Chang'e missions to the Moon, Tianwen-1 to Mars, and beyond
Scientific discoveries of China's Lunar and Deep Space exploration program: Chang'e missions to the Moon, Tianwen-1 to Mars, and beyond
Convener: Yongxin Pan | Co-conveners: Michel Blanc, Wei Lin, Ping ZhuECSECS, Yong Wei, Yan Geng, Jianjun Liu

This session covers all aspects of the lunar and deep space exploration missions developed by CNSA, with a focus on the Chang’e series to the Moon and on Tianwen-1, CNSA’s first deep space mission, which successfully operated in Mars orbit and at its surface.

The Chang-E series of missions deployed a broad spectrum of Lunar science investigations, from remote sensing and in-situ measurements to lunar sample return and analysis. Since the Chang-E1 mission, CNSA has successfully launched six lunar exploration missions and brought samples back from the far and near sides of the Moon. It returned a broad harvest of scientific data addressing the formation of the Moon and its geophysical and geological properties, attracting broad interest from the international community. The next two missions, Chang-E 7 and Chang-E 8, are planned to be launched in 2026 and 2028, respectively.

CNSA’s series of deep space missions opened with the Tianwen-1 mission to Mars, launched in July 2020. It successfully achieved orbit, landed, and deployed the Zhurong rover, marking a significant milestone in space exploration. The mission comprises an orbiter and the Zhurong rover, which landed on Utopia Planitia, a large plain in Mars' northern hemisphere. The primary objectives of Tianwen-1 were to investigate the Martian surface, atmosphere, internal structure, magnetic field and geological history. Both the orbiter and rover have collected valuable scientific data, contributing to a deeper understanding of Mars. Its rich harvest of discoveries and their implications for the understanding of Mars will be presented and compared with results from other Mars missions. Tianwen-1 will be followed by two sample return missions, first from a near-Earth asteroid (Tianwen-2), and then from Mars (Tianwen-3).

This session aims to foster interdisciplinary conversations among planetary scientists, geologists, geophysicists, geochemists, atmospheric scientists, astrobiologists, and other researchers interested in Lunar, Mars and Deep Space Exploration. It will provide a platform for all scientists to discuss and share their ideas and achievements.