Bengaluru: The ‘ChaSTE’ payload, which is part of Chandrayaan-3’s Vikram lander, has sent back the first temperature data from the lunar surface, the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) announced on Sunday. The payload measures the temperature profile of the upper soil around the pole to understand how it changes with depth and time.
ISRO shared a graph on X (formerly Twitter), showing the temperature variations at different depths, as recorded by the probe during its entry. The probe has a temperature sensor with 10 individual sensors and a controlled penetration mechanism that can go up to 10 cm below the surface. ISRO said this is the first temperature profile for the Moon’s south pole and more observations are being analyzed.
The graph showed that the surface temperature at the south pole was more than 50 degrees Celsius, while it dropped to minus 10°C at a depth of 80mm.
Chandrayaan-3 made history on August 23, when it achieved a successful soft landing on the Moon’s south pole, becoming the first mission to do so and the fourth mission to land on the lunar surface. Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited ISRO’s Command Center in Bengaluru on Saturday and interacted with the scientists of Chandrayaan-3. He named the landing site as ‘Shiv Shakti’ point and declared August 23 as National Space Day. He also named the location where Chandrayaan-2 left its imprint in 2019 as the ‘Tricolor’ point.’
