India's Chandrayaan-3 Vikram lander's unplanned hop experiment revealed lunar subsurface
Technology
India's Chandrayaan-3 made headlines with its south pole landing, but the real surprise came when the Vikram lander did an unplanned Hop Experiment.
Using leftover fuel, it briefly lifted off and touched down nearby, giving scientists a rare peek at what lies beneath the Moon's surface, especially in this unexplored region.
ISRO finds denser subsurface near Artemis
That quick hop kicked up the top layer of lunar soil, exposing denser material underneath.
ISRO's instruments found big differences between these layers, which could make building or digging on the Moon trickier than expected.
The experiment also happened near a spot NASA's Artemis program is eyeing for future missions, so these findings are a big deal for anyone planning to explore (or even live on) the Moon someday.