China releases map of the moon

For decades space explorers and scientists have been working towards documenting what the surface of the moon looks like. Recently the

Chinese Academy of Sciences released a map that does just that.

The map was put together by Chinese geologists Jianzhong Liu and Ziyuan Ouyang, who spent 15 years collecting data from high-resolution images that have been captured over the years.

It forms part of China’s Lunar

Exploration Programme in which robots are used to travel and circle the moon to find out more about it.

Liu and Ouyang also used information from lunar exploration missions conducted by the US, Japan and India. The detailed map they’ve worked on identifies the current location of every known lunar rock, crater, basin and structure on the moon’s surface. There are more than 12 000 craters!

Liu and Ouyang believe their highresolution image of the moon’s surface will help experts around the world find out more about the moon’s composition (what it’s made of).

It will also serve as a reliable resource for finding safe landing places for future lunar missions.