India’s space agency has received scientific data from the unexplored south polar region of the Moon for the first time, marking a major breakthrough for its Chandrayaan-3 mission.
The Vikram lander’s thermal sensor recorded temperature variations on the surface, near the surface, and deeper in the lunar surface.
The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) said ChaSTE (Chandra’s Surface Thermophysical Experiment) will measure the temperature profile of the lunar surface around the pole to understand the thermal behavior of the lunar surface. It has a temperature sensor equipped with a controllable penetration mechanism. can reach a depth of 10 cm from the surface. The probe is equipped with 10 individual temperature sensors,” he added. The moon has no atmosphere and the temperature varies dramatically on the lunar surface. ISRO has presented the variations in the form of a diagram. “The graph presented illustrates variations in the Moon’s surface/near surface temperature at various depths recorded during the probe’s transit. This is the first such profile for the Moon’s South Pole. Detailed observations are underway,” ISRO said .
