嫦娥六号着陆点的精确定位对于工程任务顺利实施和科学研究至关重要。本文基于嫦娥二号正射影像、月球勘测轨道器窄角相机正射影像、嫦娥六号降落相机图像等数据,利用图像仿真和特征匹配方法确定了嫦娥六号着陆点在嫦娥二号正射影像的精确位置为(153.9780°W,41.6252°S),同时确定了在LROC NAC正射影像中的精确位置。嫦娥六号着陆点精确定位结果直接支持了工程任务的实施,对于结合着陆区高精度地形和嫦娥六号样品深入开展着陆区科学研究具有重要支撑作用。

China’s Chang’e-6 (CE-6), the world’s first lunar farside sample-return mission, successfully landed in the pre-selected landing site in Apollo basin inside the South Pole-Aitken on June 2, 2024. High-precision localization of the lander is of great importance to support engineering operations and scientific studies of the landing site and the returned samples. This paper presents the CE-6 lander localization techniques and results. Using the digital orthophoto maps (DOMs) produced from Chang’e-2 (CE-2) images and Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC) Narrow Angle Camera (NAC) images as base maps, the CE-6 lander has been localized using visual localization method based on image feature matching between descent images acquired by the lander and the base maps. A new technique of descent image simulation has been developed based on orbital base maps and terrain data before landing in order to automate the image matching between descent images and orbital base maps. After landing and the descent images are downlinked, lander localization is performed using the developed visual localization method, and 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 a LROC NAC base map (Image ID: M166854798LE). The average location of the lander from 5 LROC NAC base maps is (153.9856°W, 41.6383°S). The high-precision CE-6 lander location has been directly supported engineering operations, and will be valuable for comprehensive studies of the landing site using remote sensing data and studies on the provenance of the samples.