Abstract:

Based on the telemetry data of the unsteady temperature of the Chang’E-3 rover during the moon eclipse, this paper retrieves the temperature variation of the lunar surface during the eclipse by constructing a heat transfer model between the lunar soil and the rover. And then the parameter ranges of the thermophysical properties of the lunar soil are derived. The thermal environment of the lunar surface is analyzed and researched on this basis. The result shows that the average inversed thermal conductivity is larger than the common value, while the specific heat is much lower than its common value. The temperature of the lunar surface calculated by using the inversed thermophysical properties matches the previous understanding. But there is a new discovery on the internal thermal environment of the lunar soil that the temperature gradient is smaller and the constant temperature layer is thicker than those that are revealed in the previous study.

Key words:  Thermal environment, Lunar surface, Chang ’E 3, Inversion