India’s Chandrayaan-3 Moon Mission -Below the Moon’s Surface

India’s Chandrayaan-3 Moon Mission -Below the Moon’s Surface

India’s Chandrayaan-3 Moon mission has already made history, placing India in the elite group of nations that have successfully landed a spacecraft on the Moon. More notably, it achieved a world first by landing near the Moon’s south pole. The mission’s lander Vikram and rover Pragyan have already made significant discoveries that could alter our understanding of the Moon’s geological history and chemical composition. Despite these accomplishments, the mission also highlighted a puzzling mystery: the elusive presence of water ice.

A Historic Achievement

Chandrayaan-3’s successful landing on the Moon’s south pole is a monumental achievement. Prior missions, including India’s Chandrayaan-1, provided strong evidence suggesting the presence of water ice in the permanently shadowed craters of the lunar poles. This hypothesis dates back to the 1960s and was further supported by Apollo 14’s detection of water vapor in 1971. The cold, sunless craters at the poles were deemed perfect for harboring water ice.

Chandrayaan-1 and Chandrayaan-2 Contributions

In 2009, Chandrayaan-1, equipped with NASA’s Moon Mineralogy Mapper, detected definitive spectroscopic signatures of water ice in several polar craters. These findings were later corroborated by Chandrayaan-2, reinforcing the belief that the Moon harbored significant water ice deposits, estimated to be around 600 million metric tons.

Importance of Water on the Moon

Water is crucial for sustaining human life and could be split into hydrogen and oxygen, essential for rocket fuel and breathable air. Therefore, confirming the presence of water ice on the Moon is vital for future lunar bases. The ability to source water directly from the Moon could reduce the costs and logistical challenges associated with transporting it from Earth.

Chandrayaan-3 Mission Overview

Launched on July 14, 2023, Chandrayaan-3 consisted of a lander module named Vikram, a small rover called Pragyan, and an orbiter module. Despite its modest budget of approximately $75 million, a fraction of NASA’s Artemis mission costs, Chandrayaan-3 was designed to accomplish significant scientific goals within the 14 Earth days of a lunar day.

Pragyan’s Exploration and Instruments

Pragyan, a 27 kg rover, was equipped with an Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer (APXS) and a Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) instrument. These tools were intended to analyze the chemical composition of the lunar surface, specifically searching for water ice and other interesting substances. Over its mission duration, Pragyan analyzed elements like aluminum, calcium, iron, chromium, and titanium, and made the first in-situ measurement of sulfur at the Moon’s south pole, indicating past volcanic activity.

The Absence of Hydrogen

Despite these discoveries, hydrogen, a key indicator of water ice, was notably absent. Pragyan’s navigation challenges, including avoiding craters and navigating the lunar terrain, limited its exploration radius to around 100 meters. This limited range might have contributed to the inability to detect water ice directly.

Vikram’s Contributions

The Vikram lander performed temperature readings and measured plasma content in the Moon’s exosphere, providing crucial data for future missions. Vikram’s sensors recorded a dramatic temperature drop from the surface (around 60°C) to 8 cm deep (-10°C), suggesting that lunar regolith is a poor conductor of heat. This insight hints that water ice might be located below the surface, protected from solar radiation.

The Elusive Water Ice

While orbiters like Chandrayaan-1 have detected water ice, ground missions like Chandrayaan-3 have struggled to find it. Shadowcam, a NASA camera on the South Korean Danuri orbiter, also failed to spot visible ice, revealing only dust-covered craters.

Hypotheses and Future Directions

The absence of surface ice in regions where it was expected suggests that lunar water cycles are more complex than initially thought. Theories include:

• Hidden Deposits: Water ice might be buried beneath the surface, beyond the reach of current exploration tools.
• Solar Radiation: Surface ice could be sublimating due to solar radiation, leaving hidden pockets beneath.
• Microclimates: Different areas of the Moon might have varying conditions affecting the presence and preservation of water ice.

The Need for Deeper Exploration

Chandrayaan-3’s findings underscore the need for deeper exploration to locate and understand lunar water resources. Future missions will need to be equipped with tools capable of digging below the surface to uncover hidden water ice.

Conclusion

Chandrayaan-3 has provided invaluable data about the Moon’s composition and conditions at its south pole. Despite not finding surface water ice, the mission has highlighted the potential for subsurface ice and the complexity of the lunar environment. Future lunar explorers will need to dig deeper—both literally and figuratively—to unlock the Moon’s secrets.

Tables of Findings

References

1. McColgan, Alex. “Something is Still Lurking Below the Moon’s Surface.” Astrum, YouTube, 2023.
2. “Chandrayaan-3: India’s Third Lunar Exploration Mission.” ISRO, 2023. Read More.
3. “The Lunar Exploration Roadmap.” NASA, 2022. Learn More.

By synthesizing the data collected by Chandrayaan-3 and continuing to explore the Moon’s surface and subsurface, humanity will move closer to establishing a sustainable presence on our celestial neighbor. The quest for lunar water continues, and with it, the promise of new discoveries and advancements in space exploration.