NEW DELHI, Aug 27: The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has obtained the first ever scientific data from the Moon’s unexplored South Polar region, marking a major success of its Chandrayaan-3 mission.
The thermal probe of the Vikram lander recorded how temperature varies at surface, near surface and deeper on the lunar surface. ChaSTE (Chandra’s Surface Thermophysical Experiment) measures the temperature profile of the lunar topsoil around the pole, to understand the thermal behaviour of the moon’s surface, the ISRO said.
“Here are the first observations from the ChaSTE payload onboard Vikram Lander. ChaSTE measures the temperature profile of the lunar topsoil around the pole, to understand the thermal behaviour of the moon’s surface,” ISRO said in an update on ‘X’.
The payload has a temperature probe equipped with a controlled penetration mechanism capable of reaching a depth of 10 cm beneath the surface. “The probe is fitted with 10 individual temperature sensors. The presented graph illustrates the temperature variations of the lunar surface/near-surface at various depths, as recorded during the probe’s penetration. This is the first such profile for the lunar South Pole. Detailed observations are underway,” it said. Moon has no atmosphere and the temperature varies drastically on the lunar surface. ISRO presented the variations in the form of a graph.
The payload was developed by a team led by the Space Physics Laboratory (SPL) of ISRO’s Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) in collaboration with Physical Research Laboratory (PRL), Ahmedabad.
India on Wednesday scripted history as ISRO’s ambitious third Moon mission Chandrayaan-3’s Lander Module (LM) touched down on the lunar surface, making it only the fourth country to accomplish the feat, and first to reach the uncharted south pole of Earth’s only natural satellite.
Chandrayaan-3 has accomplished two of its three objectives – soft landing and rover roving on the lunar surface – and the third – in-situ scientific experiments – is underway, ISRO said.
(Manas Dasgupta)
