Chandrayaan-3 mission: Here's a list of key findings made on moon's surface

The Chandrayaan-3 Lander Module (LM) touched down on the lunar surface on August 23, making India the first country to reach the South Pole of the moon.

The Pragyan rover has since then made several observations in pursuit of lunar secrets at the South Pole.

The mission had three objectives, of which two were completed. The demonstration of a soft landing on the lunar surface and the successful placement of the Rover on the lunar surface have been accomplished. The third objective, conducting in-situ experiments, is currently underway.

Below is a list of the findings made on the South Pole of the lunar surface:

Read More

Temperature

On August 27, the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) said that high temperatures were recorded on the moon. The space agency said that Chandra's surface thermophysical experiment (ChaSTE) payload onboard the Vikram lander measured the temperature profile of the lunar topsoil to understand the thermal behaviour of the lunar surface.

Isro scientist B H M Darukesha said, "We all believed that the temperature could be somewhere around 20 degrees to 30 degrees on the surface, but it is 70 degrees. This is surprisingly higher than what we had expected."

Four-metre diameter crater

On August 27, the Rover faced a four-metre diameter crater ahead of it. The Isro then commanded the Rover to retrace the path and informed that the Rover was now safely heading on a new path.

Elements on the lunar surface

On August 30, the laser-induced breakdown spectroscope instrument onboard the Pragyan rover confirmed the presence of sulphur on the lunar surface near the South Pole.

Other elements such as aluminium, calcium, iron, chromium, titanium, manganese, silicon, and oxygen (O) have also been detected.

The Isro said that the search for hydrogen (H) is underway. 

Rover has only 14 days in total

However, the Rover is currently in a "race against time".

Nilesh M Desai, director of the Space Applications Centre, said, "We have only 14 days in total for this mission, which is equal to one day on the moon, so four days have been completed. The more experiments and research we can do in the remaining ten days will be important. We are in a race against time because in these 10 days, we have to do maximum work and all the Isro scientists are working on it."

"Shiv Shakti Point"

On August 26, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that the spot where the Chandrayaan-3 Vikram lander made the soft landing will be called "Shiv Shakti Point" and the site where the Chandrayaan-2 lander crash-landed in 2019 would be known as "Tiranga Point".