Chandrayaan-3's Pragyan rover discovered more than an ancient crater on the Moon

The rover, tasked with exploring the lunar surface, reported an ancient crater close to its landing site, but that was not all that the images revealed.

In Short

• Researchers were able to estimate the thickness of the ejecta layer
• Approximately 1,400 meters were contributed by the SPA basin
• Pragyan’s findings have provided Indian scientists with a wealth of information

Indian scientists were left in awe by a groundbreaking observation made by the Pragyan rover as part of the Chandrayaan-3 mission.

The rover, tasked with exploring the lunar surface, reported an ancient crater close to its landing site, but that was not all that the images revealed.

The pictures taken by the little rover revealed a remarkable absence of large boulders (greater than 1 meter) in its vicinity at the Shiv Shakti Point, located in the Moon's south polar region.

This observation suggests that the boulders once present in the region have been subjected to billions of years of space weathering and erosion, indicating the area's extreme age.

THERE'S MORE TO IT THAN MEETS THE EYE

What astonished scientists further was the question of where the material that currently covers the region came from.

The answer lies in the South Pole-Aitken (SPA) basin, one of the largest impact craters in the solar system.

The SPA basin, while mostly situated on the far side of the Moon, extends to regions near the lunar south pole, just 350 kilometers southwest of the Shiv Shakti Point.

Over billions of years, numerous impacts in the SPA basin have ejected materials, which have gradually filled craters in surrounding regions, including the site explored by Pragyan.

Using high-resolution images from the Orbiter’s OHRC (Optical High-Resolution Camera), scientists identified ray-like structures on the lunar surface. These rays act as channels, showing the direction in which materials from impact craters were ejected and deposited.

Pragyan’s own observations of such ray structures further confirmed that the region has received material not only from the SPA basin but also from nearby impact craters.

Researchers were able to estimate the thickness of the ejecta layer at the landing site to be around 2,300 meters. Of this, approximately 1,400 meters were contributed by the SPA basin, while 580 meters came from 12 other nearby basins.

Even relatively newly formed craters added their share, further contributing to the layer of material surrounding the Shiv Shakti Point.

Pragyan’s findings have provided Indian scientists with a wealth of information about the Moon’s geological history, particularly about how the region’s ancient surface was shaped over time.