High-precision visual localization of the Chang'e-6 lander
China's Chang'e-6(CE-6),the world's first lunar farside sample-return mission,successfully landed on the preselected landing site in the Apollo basin inside the South Pole-Aitken basin on June 2,2024.The high-precision localization of the lander is of considerable importance for supporting engineering operations and scientific studies of the landing site and the returned samples.This study presents the localization techniques and results of the CE-6 lander.Using the Digital Orthophoto Maps(DOMs)produced from images taken by Chang'e-2(CE-2)and the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera(LROC)Narrow Angle Camera(NAC)as base maps,the CE-6 lander has been lo-calized through a visual localization method based on image feature matching between descent images acquired by the lander and the base maps.A new descent image simulation technique has been developed based on orbital base maps and terrain data before landing to automate image matching between descent images and orbital base maps.After landing,descent images are downlinked and lander localization is per-formed using the developed visual localization method.The location of the CE-6 lander location is determined to be(153.9780°W,41.6252°S)on the CE-2 base map and(153.9855°W,41.6384°S)on an LROC NAC base map(Image ID:M166854798LE).The average location of the lander from five LROC NAC base maps is(153.9856°W,41.6383°S).The location of the high-precision CE-6 lander has been directly sup-ported by engineering operations,and it will be valuable for comprehensive studies on the landing site by using remote sensing data and studies on the provenance of the samples.
remote sensingChang'e-6lander localizationdescent camera imageimage simulationimage matching
NETL
NSTL
万方数据
