Chandrayaan-3 Mission: India’s Groundbreaking Discovery of Molten Rock Ocean and Lunar Water Evidence at Moon’s South Pole

Misja Chandrayaan-3which landed on the moon’s south pole in August 2023, found the remains of an ocean of molten rock. This is the first mission to reach this area, which has not been visited by any spacecraft before. India sent the Chandrayaan-3 probe to the Moon on July 14, 2023. The main objective of this mission was to place a solar power probe and a Pragyan rover on the south pole of the Moon.

Discoveries made by the Indian Space Research Organization (Bharatiya Antariksh Anusadhan Sangatn – ISRO) confirm the theory that the surface of the moon was formed by magma about 4.5 billion years ago. Scientists believe that when the moon was formed and when it began to cool, anorthosite melted, an igneous rock that contains about 90 percent plagioclase – minerals from the feldspar group, which is the most common in the earth’s crust.

Scientists found evidence of the presence of anorthosite at the south pole of the Moon in data obtained from the Pragyan rover. The results of their research were published in the journal Nature. Before that, traces of magma oceans were found closer to the moon’s equator as part of the US Apollo program, which ran from 1966 to 1972.

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Professor Santosh Vadadale, an astrophysicist at the Physical Research Laboratory (PRL) at Gujarat University in India and co-author of the study, said: “The theory of the early evolution of the Moon is much more credible according to our opinions. Professor Vadadale and his team were part of the team that controlled the Chandrayaan-3 mission.

The Pragyan rover, named after the Sanskrit word for “wisdom,” traveled across the lunar surface for 10 days. It was carried to the Moon by the Vikram Lander, named after the Indian physicist and astronaut Vikram Sarabhai. Pragyan, controlled by a command center in India, collected data at about 70 degrees south latitude. The robotic vehicle was designed to withstand temperatures from minus 10 to 70 degrees Celsius and move efficiently on the moon’s uneven surface, covered in regolith (a loose layer of weathered rock).

Pragyan, weighing around 27 kilograms, made a total of 23 measurements using the Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer (APXS). This device enables remote chemical analysis. Under the influence of alpha radiation bombardment (helium nucleus), the tested surface emits particles, the number of which indicates the composition of the sample.

In data from the Pragyan rover, Indian scientists also found evidence of a large meteorite impact in the south polar region of the Moon. This collision, which happened about 4 billion years ago, is believed to have created one of the largest cracks in the solar system. The South Pole – Aitken Basin has a diameter of 2,500 kilometers and a depth of over 8 kilometers.

Researchers say that the presence of magnesium in samples analyzed during the Chandrayaan-3 mission indicates the strength of a meteorite impact on the lunar surface. “The occurrence of magnesium could be caused by a collision with an asteroid. Under the influence of the impact, this element could be thrown from the depths of the Earth’s satellite to the surface,” said Prof. Anil Bhardwaj, director of PRL and co-author of the study.

Scientists continue to analyze information received from the Chandrayaan-3 mission. They hope to thank them, among others: irrefutable evidence of the presence of water in a crater at the south pole of the moon. This discovery would be crucial for future manned missions to the moon and for building permanent bases there.

Previously, data showing traces of water on the Moon was provided by China’s Chang’e 5 space mission in 2020. Both Indian and Chinese space missions have contributed important information to water research on the Moon. The data shows that the south pole of the moon is particularly promising for the presence of water ice.

Scientists believe that future missions are such Artemis NASAbringing us closer to creating permanent bases on the Moon, where ice water can be turned into drinking water, oxygen and rocket fuel. This research is not only a step towards a better understanding of our natural satellite, but also the key to future space exploration that could change the way humanity lives traveling and living outside the Earth.