Chandrayaan-3’s Pragyan Rover Uncovers New Insights at Moon’s South Pole

NEW DELHI: India’s Chandrayaan-3 mission has made important discoveries about the Moon’s South Pole, thanks to data from its Pragyan rover. These discoveries help us understand more about the distribution and origin of rock fragments in the area, marking a big step forward in lunar geology.

The Pragyan rover, which was deployed by the Vikram lander after it touched down on the Moon on August 23, 2023, traveled 103 meters on the lunar surface during one lunar day. According to the findings, the number and size of rock fragments increased when the rover moved 39 meters west of the landing site, named Shiv Shakti point by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The rover’s journey took place in the Nectarian plains region, located between the Manzinus and Boguslawsky craters, an area of great interest to scientists. These rock fragments were found scattered around the rims, wall slopes, and floors of small craters, each no larger than 2 meters in diameter.

The new findings, presented earlier this year at the International Conference on Planets, Exoplanets, and Habitability, show an interesting pattern: both the number and size of rock fragments increased as the rover moved about 39 meters westward from its landing site. Two rock fragments discovered during the mission showed signs of degradation, indicating they have been affected by space weathering. These findings support earlier studies suggesting that rock fragments within the lunar soil gradually become coarser over time. This new discovery will help in planning future resource utilization on the Moon.

The Chandrayaan-3 mission is a significant achievement for India, as it became the first country to successfully land a spacecraft at the lunar south pole and the fourth country to soft-land on the Moon, following the Soviet Union, the United States, and China.