.jpg?w=480&auto=format%2Ccompress&fit=max)
As India prepares to mark its first National Space Day on August 23, commemorating the historic landing of Chandrayaan-3 on the Moon's south pole last year, scientists have unveiled a groundbreaking discovery from the mission's data.
A team led by Santosh Vadawale from the Physical Research Laboratory (PRL) in Ahmedabad has revealed new insights into the lunar surface composition near the landing site.
Their findings, published in Nature, are based on data from the Alpha Particular X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS) aboard the Pragyan rover.
The study shows that the lunar regolith around the landing site has a uniform elemental composition, primarily consisting of ferroan anorthosite rock, a product of the lunar magma ocean (LMO) crystallisation.
This discovery supports the lunar magma ocean (LMO) hypothesis, which suggests that the Moon's mantle formed as heavier materials sank inward while lighter rocks floated to the surface.
Interestingly, the chemical makeup of the regolith near the South Pole closely matches soil samples from equatorial and mid-latitude regions, further supporting the LMO theory. The presence of additional Mg-rich materials indicates a mixing of outer crustal material with deeper lunar layers.
The Pragyan rover also provided new geological insights, revealing smooth terrain within 50 meters of the landing site, with boulders likely ejected from nearby craters beyond this zone.
This discovery adds to the significance of India's lunar mission, which made history by being the first to land near the Moon's south pole.
The success of Chandrayaan-3 positioned India as the fourth country to achieve a soft landing on the Moon, joining the ranks of the United States, China, and the former Soviet Union.
As India celebrates its first National Space Day, these findings demonstrate the scientific importance of the Chandrayaan-3 mission and India's growing prominence in space exploration.
