India’s Chandrayaan-3 Mission Finds Proof of the Massive Magma Ocean on the Moon South Pole

India’s historic Chandrayaan-3 lunar mission has explored the south pole of the Moon and found remnants of a magma ocean in this isolated and mysterious area where no spacecraft had touched down. The discoveries support the Lunar Magma Ocean theory, which suggests how the Moon was formed.

Evidence Of Moon Surface Origin

The findings were published in Nature on Wednesday, 21st August. Scientists found that the Moon’s south pole was once covered in an ocean of hot, melted rock. After the Moon formed 4.5 billion years ago, it cooled, and a lighter mineral called ferroan anorthosite floated to the top. This mineral then hardened and became the Moon’s surface.

“The theory of early evolution of the Moon becomes much more robust in the light of our observations,” mentioned Dr Santosh Vadawale from the Physical Research Laboratory, the paper’s co-author.

Before India’s mission, the primary evidence of magma oceans on the Moon was discovered in the mid-latitudes during the Apollo program.

Chandrayaan-3’s Pragyaan Rover

India’s Vikram lander made its historic soft landing at the Moon’s south pole last August. During the Chandrayaan-3 mission, Prof. Vadawale and his team were at mission control.

The Pragyaan rover, built to endure temperature swings between 70°C and -10°C, embarked on a journey for the lunar surface exploration. For 10 days, Pragyaan roamed the lunar surface while Prof. Vadawale and his team worked tirelessly, directing it to gather data at 70 degrees south latitude. The rover could also make its own decisions about how to navigate the Moon’s rough and dusty terrain.

Overall, the rover took 23 measurements using an alpha particle X-ray spectrometer, which excites atoms and analyzes the energy released to identify minerals in the Moon’s soil. 

Massive Meteorite Impact

The team also discovered evidence of a massive meteorite impact in the region from about four billion years ago. Scientists believe that it created the South Pole – Aitken basin, one of the largest craters in the solar system, spanning 2,500 km. This basin is roughly 350 km from where India’s Pragyaan rover is explored. The scientists detected magnesium in the area, which they think was ejected from deep within the Moon during the impact and spread across the surface.

The Research Is Ongoing

The findings are part of the scientific data gathered during the Chandrayaan-3 mission, which aims to discover ice water at the Moon’s South Pole ultimately. That discovery would be a game-changer for space agencies’ plans to establish a human base on the Moon.