A Complex Paleo-Surface Revealed by the Yutu-2 Rover at the Lunar Farside

The observable lunar surface is represented by a ubiquitous layer of fine-grained materials produced by billions of years of hypervelocity pounding of its crustal layer. The data from the Lunar Penetrating Radar onboard Chang'e-4 (CE-4) rover (Yutu-2), which is exploring the Von Kármán Crater on the lunar farside, are helping to peel back the upper layer of finely comminuted materials, interpreted as a thick layer of ejecta from the neighboring Finsen crater, to reveal a complex paleo-surface morphology. During the rover’s 560 m journey, from depths of 7–20 m, distinct variations in the returned signal characteristics reveal a possible 270 ± 10 m buried crater with an estimated age of less than 100 m.y. A smooth surface depression that lies to the southwest of the Yutu-2 rover’s travel path might not be the remnant of a degraded crater but a related surface expression of the hidden structure.