New discovery on Moon's south pole done by ISRO Chandrayaan-3's Prayag rover

Vikram Lander on the lunar surface (Photo: Twitter/@Isro)

ISRO Chandrayaan-3's Prayag rover has made a new discovery on Moon's south pole according to the new data provided by the rover. On August 23, 2023, the rover landed on the surface of the Moon on Vikaram Lander.

Pragyan rover has a weight of 27 kilograms and is equipped with a camera, instrument for the analysis and collection of the samples on the lunar surface and along with a tricolour flag of India on it.

In this discovery, a small rock fragment in the area floor of small craters is located on the southern high-latitude landing area, this rock sample contributes to the the ISRO understanding of the lunar surface.

The rover travelled 39 meters west to its landing site Shiv Shakti Point named by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during the rover journey the rock size and its number increased and the craters were around 2-10 metres in diameter where the possible source of these rocks is speculated. The craters that were observed by the rovers are named Manzinus and Boguslawsky located in the Nectarian region.

There is a paper presented at the International Conference on Planets, Exoplanets and Habitability in Ahmedabad this year. In that paper, it is revealed that the rock fragment near the landing site
had been repeatedly buried and uncovered due to the constant churning of the lunar regolith and the formation of small craters.

This continuous process of burial and exposure is driven by the Moon's dynamic surface activity. Micrometeorite impacts and seismic activities contribute to the regolith's movement, resulting in the layering and re-layering of surface materials.

Two of the rock samples that show degradation, which reveals exposure to space weathering, were highlighted in the study's findings. ISRO chief S Somanath shared his view during the interview on these findings and said that the upcoming Chandrayaan-4 mission will aim to bring back a lunar sample from the 'Shiv Shakti' point to Earth.

It has been confirmed by the ISRO officials that Chandrayaan-3 successfully achieved all its mission objectives, which included demonstrating a safe and soft landing on the lunar surface, the rover's mobility across the Moon, and conducting on-site scientific experiments with the payloads of both the rover and the lander.