Among many scientific objectives of lunar exploration, investigations on lunar soil become attractive due to the existence of He³ and ilmenite in the lunar soil and their possible utilization as nuclear fuel for power generation. Although the composition of the lunar surface soil can be determined by optical and γ/X-ray spectrometers, etc., the evaluation of the total reserves of He³ and ilmenite within the regolith and in the lunar interior are still not available. In this paper, we give a rough analysis of the microwave brightness temperature images of the lunar disc observed using the NRAO 12 meter Telescope and Siberian Solar Radio Telescope. We also present the results of the microwave dielectric properties of terrestrial analogues of lunar soil and, discuss some basic relations between the microwave brightness temperature and lunar soil properties.

China plans to implement its first lunar exploration mission Chang ’E-1 by 2007.The mission objectives are

To achieve the above mission goals,five types of scientific instruments are selected as payloads of the lunar craft.These include stereo camera and spectrometer imager,laser altimeter,microwave radiometer,gamma and X-ray spectrometers and space environment monitor system.In order to collect,process,store and transmit the scientific data of various payloads a special payload data management system is also included.In this paper the goals of Chang ’E-1 and its payloads are described.