Groundbreaking Chandrayaan-3 Data Reveals Moon’s Ancient Magma Ocean – Astonishing Discovery in World News!
India’s Chandrayaan-3 Unveils Hidden Secrets of Moon’s South Pole
It has been a year since India made history with the Chandrayaan-3 mission, successfully landing a rover on the moon’s southern pole—an uncharted territory. The mission has since provided invaluable insights to ISRO scientists, uncovering significant data about the lunar surface that was previously unexplored.
Recent studies using Chandrayaan-3’s data have made groundbreaking discoveries, suggesting that a vast ocean of magma once existed underneath the moon’s surface. These findings, published in the journal Nature, highlight that this molten rock could have shaped the lunar surface around 4.2 billion years ago. This discovery not only opens new avenues for understanding the moon’s geology but also aids in identifying potential safe landing sites for future missions.
The rover, Pragyan, has traveled 103 meters on the lunar surface, conducting 23 in-situ analyses to examine the composition of the lunar regolith. The Physical Research Laboratory (PRL) in Ahmedabad released this data, revealing a composition of magnesium and olivine compounds typically found at a depth of about 100 kilometers. These findings suggest a connection to a massive, 2500-km wide impact crater in the South Pole-Aitken basin.
Lunar geologist Neeraj Srivastava noted the unique composition of the samples, containing material from various depths within the moon. This mixture from the surface, subsurface, and deep interior offers a comprehensive geological context of the area, enriched by materials from the large South Pole Aitken (SPA) crater.
NASA defines magma oceans as regions formed during the early stages of planet and moon development, where the surface was entirely molten. If this theory holds, the moon’s magma ocean might have existed from its formation (about 4.5 billion years ago) until tens of millions of years later, providing crucial insights into lunar history.
First Published: Aug 22, 2024 | 6:11 PM IST
Original Story https://www.business-standard.com/world-news/chandrayaan-3-shares-data-isro-confirms-moon-s-surface-was-ocean-of-magma-124082200949_1.html
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