According to a fresh review of data from the Pragyan rover’s investigation, India’s Chandrayaan-3 mission discovered substantial information about the lunar surface at the Moon’s South Pole.
The results, which offer information on the location and origin of rock pieces in the region, represent a significant step forward in our knowledge of lunar geology.
The Pragyan rover, launched by the Vikram lander following the lunar touchdown on August 23, 2023, travelled 103 metres over the lunar surface in a single lunar day.
According to the results, the number and size of rock pieces rose as the Pragyan rover moved 39 metres west of the landing location, Shiv Shakti point — the designation given to Chandrayaan-3’s landing zone by PM Narendra Modi.
The rover travelled across the Nectarian plains region between Manzinus and Boguslawsky craters, which is of particular interest to scientists.
These debris were discovered dispersed throughout the rims, wall slopes, and floors of tiny craters measuring little more than 2 m in diameter.
The latest data, published earlier this year at the International Conference on Planets, Exoplanets, and Habitability, reveal an intriguing trend: the quantity and size of rock pieces rose as the rover advanced about 39 m west of its landing location.
Two rock pieces recovered during the Chandrayaan expedition showed evidence of disintegration, indicating that they had experienced space weathering. The findings back up prior research that revealed a steady coarsening of rock pieces inside the lunar regolith.
This discovery will help to shape future lunar resource utilisation methods.
India achieved a key milestone with the Chandrayaan-3 mission, becoming the first nation in the world to gently land a spacecraft on the lunar south pole and the fourth nation overall, after the US, China, and the Soviet Union, to do so.
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Pragyan rover delivers breakthrough discovery at Moon’s South Pole
