Produced by: Tarun Mishra Designed by: Manoj Kumar
The Pragyan rover, part of India’s Chandrayaan-3 mission, made a significant discovery at the lunar south pole’s Shiv Shakti Point, identifying an ancient crater near its landing site.
One of the key observations was the absence of large boulders (over 1 meter) in the vicinity of the crater. This suggested that space weathering and erosion over billions of years had shaped the region.
Scientists inferred from this absence of boulders that the area is extremely old. The materials that once formed large boulders have likely been broken down through prolonged exposure to the harsh lunar environment.
A notable finding from the Pragyan rover’s observations is that materials from the South Pole-Aitken (SPA) basin, one of the largest impact craters in the solar system, contributed to the region’s current landscape.
High-resolution images from the Chandrayaan-2 Orbiter’s Optical High-Resolution Camera (OHRC) revealed ray-like structures on the lunar surface, indicating that materials from the SPA basin and nearby craters were ejected and deposited in the region.
Researchers estimated that the ejecta layer at the Shiv Shakti Point is about 2,300 meters thick. Of this, 1,400 meters originated from the SPA basin, with 580 meters coming from 12 other nearby impact craters.
The rover’s observations shed light on how the surface of the Moon’s south pole has evolved over time. This includes the deposition of materials from multiple impact events, contributing to the area’s geological history.
The data provided by the Pragyan rover has enriched scientists’ understanding of the Moon’s geological past, highlighting the processes that shaped the ancient surface at the south pole over billions of years.