Produced by: Tarun Mishra
India's Chandrayaan-3 mission has revealed new details about the lunar surface at the Moon's southern high-latitude region through data analysis from the Pragyan rover.
The findings highlight the distribution and origin of rock fragments in the area, advancing our understanding of lunar geology.
The Pragyan rover, deployed by the Vikram lander, travelled approximately 103 meters on the lunar surface during a single lunar day in the Nectarian plains region between the Manzinus and Boguslawsky craters.
India has designated the Chandrayaan-3 Vikram lander's touchdown site as the Shiva Shakti Point, where Pragyan encountered numerous rock fragments ranging from 1 to 11.5 centimetres in size around small craters.
Researchers observed an increase in both the number and size of rock fragments as the rover moved about 39 meters westward from its landing site.
A nearby crater, approximately 10 meters in diameter and located west of the landing site, is proposed as the source of these rock fragments, which were redistributed by the lunar regolith overturning mechanism.
Two rock fragments showed signs of degradation due to space weathering, providing valuable data on the processes affecting lunar surface materials over time.
The detailed information collected by the Pragyan rover underscores the importance of in-situ exploration for advancing lunar science, informing strategies for future missions and potential resource utilization on the Moon.