By – Shubhendra Singh Rajawat
India’s Chandrayaan-3 mission discovered a 160-kilometer crater near the Moon’s south pole, adding to our understanding of lunar history and geological processes.
Chandrayaan-3, India’s lunar mission, made a startling discovery near its landing spot on the Moon’s south pole. The active lunar surface explorer Pragyan rover discovered a massive crater roughly 160 kilometers in diameter. Scientists from Ahmedabad’s Physical Research Laboratory (PRL) emphasized this finding, which is described in a detailed paper published on Science Direct.
What is revealed by this crater?
The discovery of such a massive crater near the south pole is a significant scientific success for India’s space program. The data gathered by the Pragyan rover is critical for comprehending the Moon’s surface and geological history. PRL scientists believe that such discoveries could reveal fresh information about the Moon’s creation and the history of impacts that have occurred over millions of years.
This significant finding was made while the Pragyan rover was navigating the highland area close to its landing site, around 350 kilometers away from the largest and oldest impact basin on the Moon, the South Pole-Aitken basin. The crater is one of the oldest geological features on the Moon, having developed possibly before the South Pole-Aitken basin. The crater’s existence is gradual because much of its debris from later impacts, particularly the South Pole-Aitken event, has been buried over time.
Chandrayaan-3 for lunar research
The Chandrayaan-3, which arrived on the Moon in August 2023, was one of India’s third lunar missions and received widespread acclaim for successfully reaching the Moon’s south pole, which had previously been undiscovered. Scientists believe this location has a large amount of water ice, and the mission aimed to investigate its composition, among other things.
The crater discovery adds to the mission’s valuable contribution to lunar research. Scientists have begun to examine data from the Pragyan rover, providing an increasingly clear picture of what the Moon’s surface looks like and what processes have sculpted it.
Each passing day confirms India’s position as a significant actor in space exploration and contributes to a better understanding of Earth’s nearest celestial neighbor.