India’s rover, which landed on the moon last August in the historic Chandrayaan-3 mission, recently made an important discovery: it revealed an ancient magma ocean at the moon’s south pole, according to new analysis of the data collected.

The “Lunar Magma Ocean” Theory

Scientists believe that when the Moon formed 4.5 billion years ago, it began to cool. Then a lighter mineral called ferroan anorthosite floated up and covered the surface of the moon.

“The ‘Lunar Magma Ocean’ theory of the early evolution of the Moon is getting stronger in light of the new data,” said Dr. Santos Vadavale, co-author of the study published in the scientific journal “Nature”.

How was the discovery made?

Last August, India’s Vikram lander landed on the Moon’s south pole and released the Pragyan rover.

After 10 days of exploration and data collection, the scientific team directed it to a specific location – an isolated and mysterious area at the South Pole where no craft had ever landed before.

In that area, the team that analyzed the new findings discovered signs of the specific mineral.

It took 23 measurements with an instrument called an alpha particle X-ray spectrometer to detect ferroan anorthosite in the lunar soil.

ISRO An image showing the location of Chandrayaan-3 lander and the south pole lunar surface

The team also discovered evidence of a massive meteorite impact in the area, which they estimate occurred 4 billion years ago. The impact is believed to have created one of the largest craters in the solar system, measuring 2,500 kilometers in diameter.

According to scientists’ estimates, the crater is about 350 kilometers from the area explored by the Indian rover. The analysis also showed evidence of magnesium, which researchers believe came from the Moon’s interior when massive amounts of material were ejected onto the surface by the impact.

India plans to launch another mission to the moon in 2025 or 2026 to collect samples from the lunar surface.

SOURCE: BBC, Nature, ERT