The Chang'e‐5 (CE‐5) materials represent the youngest returned lunar samples. We performed a detailed Raman spectroscopic survey (1259‐point Raman modal analysis) to evaluate the mineralogical characteristics of CE‐5 soils, constraining the source materials and shock effects of these unique samples. The mineral chemistry (e.g., Mg#_3‐60 for mafic minerals) and modal abundance (first distinguishing basaltic and feldspathic glasses) of CE‐5 mare soils are different from those of Apollo high‐ and low‐Ti basalts, possibly representing an intermediate‐Ti mare basalt. The occurrence of minor Mg‐rich materials (Mg# > 70) provides evidence of contamination from ∼5% to 7% exogenous materials, possibly related to Mg‐suite rocks. The microimage analyses suggest that the CE‐5 soils are fine‐grained, mature, and unimodal particle‐size distribution, highlighting that micrometeorite reworking dominates the CE‐5 regolith evolution with minor mixing from nonmare materials. The pressure‐sensitive minerals (quartz and maskelynite) indicate that 17–25.8 GPa shock pressures might be the higher limit in a relatively young lunar terrain.

A remote Raman prototype with a function of excitation energy adjusting for the purpose of obtaining a Raman signal with good signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), saving power consumption, and possibly avoiding destroying a target by high energy pulses, which may have applications for Chinese planetary explorations, has been setup and demonstrated for detecting different minerals. The system consists of a spectrograph equipped with a thermoelectrically cooled charge-coupled device (CCD) detector, a telescope with 150 mm diameter and 1500 mm focus length, and a compact 1064 nm Nd:YAG Q-switched laser with an electrical adjusted pulse energy from 0 to 200 mJ/pulse. A KTP crystal was used for second harmonic generation in a 1064 nm laser to generate a 532 nm laser, which is the source of Raman scatting. Different laser pulse energies and integration time were used to obtain distinguishable remote Raman spectra of various samples. Results show that observed remote Raman spectra at a distance of 4 m enable us to identify silicates, carbonates, sulfates, perchlorates, water/water ice, and organics that have been found or may exist on extraterrestrial planets. Detailed Raman spectral assignments of the measured planetary materials and the feasible applications of remote Raman system for planetary explorations are discussed.

Until 29 May 2020, the Visible and Near-Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (VNIS) onboard the Yutu-2 Rover of the Chang’e-4 (CE-4) has acquired 96 high-resolution surface in-situ imaging spectra. These spectra were acquired under different illumination conditions, thus photometric normalization should be conducted to correct the introduced albedo differences before deriving the quantitative mineralogy for accurate geologic interpretations. In this study, a Lommel–Seeliger (LS) model and Hapke radiative transfer (Hapke) model were used and empirical phase functions of the LS model were derived. The values of these derived phase functions exhibit declining trends with the increase in phase angles and the opposition effect and phase reddening effect were observed. Then, we discovered from in-situ and laboratory measurements that the shadows caused by surface roughness have significant impacts on reflectance spectra and proper corrections were introduced. The validations of different phase functions showed that the maximum discrepancy at 1500 nm of spectra corrected by the LS model was less (~3.7%) than that by the Hapke model (~7.4%). This is the first time that empirical phase functions have been derived for a wavelength from 450 to 2395 nm using in-situ visible and near-infrared spectral datasets. Generally, photometrically normalized spectra exhibit smaller spectral slopes, lower FeO contents and larger optical maturity parameter (OMAT) than spectra without correction. In addition, the band centers of the 1 and 2 μm absorption features of spectra after photometric normalization exhibit a more concentrated distribution, indicating the compositional homogeneity of soils at the CE-4 landing site.

A 532‐nm‐excited lunar Raman spectrometer (LRS) has been selected as a scientific payload of the Chang'e‐7 mission, exploring mineralogy assemblages in the lunar south polar region. However, the quantification of dark‐colored silicate minerals via Raman spectroscopy is an urgent requirement for upcoming Raman applications in future lunar and planetary explorations. Therefore, we conducted detailed laboratory studies on the Raman quantification of lunar silicate minerals using ternary mixtures of feldspar, olivine, and augite. Quantitative models were established employing the observed linear relationship between Raman integrated intensities and mineral proportions. The significant correlation coefficients (>0.94) and small RMSE (≤4.20 wt.%) confirmed the performance of these models. A series of methods (multipoint sampling, multispectral averaging, peak area extraction, and spectral parameter ratios) were jointly used to ensure that the models were not significantly affected by crystal orientation, chemical inhomogeneity, and instruments. Factors (σ₂/σ₁) describing the relative Raman scattering cross sections were introduced to calibrate the Raman counts. Our results indicated that the relative Raman scattering efficiency of feldspar, olivine, and augite is 1.4:2.4:1, which can be used to improve the quantitative accuracy of the point‐counting method if polymineralic mixing spectra are dominant. The models were validated across different samples using laboratory mixtures and lunar soil (CE5C0600). The lithology of the Chang'e‐5 soils is basaltic/gabbroic according to the quantitative mineralogy returned from our models that is consistent with the results from traditional methods. This research will be of particular significance for accurately determining the mineral abundances for Chang'e‐7 and other planetary missions. As such, crucial information can be inferred to understand the geological evolution of the exploration regions.