Chandrayaan-1 may have found oldest impact crater on Moon
What's the story
Planetary scientists have confirmed the existence of a hidden impact crater on the Moon, thanks to mineralogical data from India's Chandrayaan-1 mission. The Australe Basin, as it is called, had remained undetected due to erosion along its rims. This ancient basin could predate the oldest known impact craters on the Moon.
Basin discovery
Research team and importance of discovery
The discovery was made by a team of researchers from the Physical Research Laboratory (PRL), Ahmedabad.
They believe there are around 300 impact basins on the Moon, but only 74 have been detected so far.
Impact basins are formed due to asteroid or meteorite hits and can be several hundred kilometers in diameter with distinct outer rims.
Mineralogical analysis
Unique mineralogical composition of Australe Basin
The study, published in The Planetary Science Journal, details the distinct morphology and gravity signatures of the Australe Basin. It also has some unique mineralogical compositions.
Neha Panwar, a planetary scientist and lead author of the study, said, "The volcanism inside the Australe Basin has a very unique mineralogy."
Unlike most Moon basalts that are high in calcium-bearing minerals, these are lower in calcium and higher in magnesium.
Mission contribution
Role of Chandrayaan-1 mission in discovery
Chandrayaan-1 had 11 scientific payloads onboard, six of which were from international space agencies like NASA and the European Space Agency.
The Moon Mineralogy Mapper of NASA, an imaging spectrometer, helped detect the mineralogy of the Australe Basin.
Scientists studied absorption bands from key lunar minerals such as pyroxenes, olivine, and plagioclase to confirm this discovery.
Future exploration
Significance for future lunar missions
The study could provide detailed mineralogical insights for future lunar missions, such as NASA's proposed Moon Base mission and India's Chandrayaan-4.
Panwar said this study "provides us with a framework to interpret the data from the landing missions in the broader geological context."
She added that unique sites like Australe can be important targets for future sample return missions.