Moon south pole soil temperature: First Chandrayaan-3 observations from ChaSTE payload onboard Vikram Lander

Just four days after the successful soft landing of ISRO's Chandrayaan on August 23, ISRO research unveiled the initial findings from Chandrayaan 3. This marks the very first instance of temperature profiling for lunar soil around the south pole, as no other nation has previously accomplished a soft landing in this region.

Bengaluru:Chandrayaan 3 has achieved a historic milestone in the realm of global space science by conducting the inaugural soil profiling of the moon's south pole, delving up to 10cm beneath the surface to study temperature variations.

Just four days after the successful soft landing of ISRO's Chandrayaan on August 23, ISRO research unveiled the initial findings from Chandrayaan 3. This marks the very first instance of temperature profiling for lunar soil around the south pole, as no other nation has previously accomplished a soft landing in this region.

ISRO unveiled a temperature graph showcasing the moon's soil temperature fluctuations at different depths. The 'ChaSTE' experiment (Chandra's Surface Thermophysical Experiment) captures the temperature profile of the moon's topsoil near the pole, providing insights into the thermal characteristics of the lunar surface. Equipped with a controlled penetration mechanism, the temperature probe can reach depths of up to 10cm beneath the surface and houses 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," ISRO said in a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Sunday.

The payload, ISRO said, is developed by a team led by the Space Physics Laboratory (SPL), VSSC in collaboration with PRL, Ahmedabad.

The temperature range depicted in the ISRO graph spans from -10 degrees Celsius to 60 degrees Celsius. Chandrayaan 3 is equipped with seven payloads—four on the Vikram lander, two on the Pragyan rover, and one propulsion module payload. These payloads are strategically designed for diverse scientific experiments. Alongside ChaSTE, which is dedicated to analyzing lunar soil, Vikram also carries RAMBHA (to study ions and electrons), ILSA (to study seismic activity), and LRA (to unravel the moon's system dynamics).