Indian scientists find Chandrayaan-3's Shiv Shakti landing site as old as life on Earth

Scientists from India's Physical Research Laboratory (PRL) have discovered that the landing site of the Chandrayaan-3 Vikram lander, known as Shiv Shakti Point, is 3.7 billion years old.

The scientists have created the first geological map of the site which is close to the Moon’s south pole.

The map shows the spatial distribution of three different terrain types in the landing area including high-relief rugged terrain, smooth plains, and low-relief smooth plains.

Vikram landed in the low-relief smooth plains in this region estimated to be about 3.7 billion years old, which coincides with the age of some of the earliest life forms on Earth.

According to the study published in Science Direct, the team of scientists explained that geological mapping is a process by which different datasets are organized into geological units which helps in understanding the spatial and temporal sequences of the underlying processes that have shaped the surface of a planetary body.

It was also noted that the debris from the nearby Schomberger crater covers the area. The landing site is also covered with boulders, some more than five meters in size that mostly originated from a fresh 540-meter crater located 14 kms south of the landing site.

Moreover, the rover’s exploration has found smaller rock fragments which are a few centimeters in size near a 10-meter-wide crater at the west of the landing site.

India's Chandrayaan-3 mission landed on the moon’s south-polar region on August 23, 2023, making India the fourth country to achieve a soft landing on the lunar surface and the first to reach the Moon's South Pole.

India, which achieved a historic milestone with Chandrayaan-3, is now preparing for the Chandrayaan-4 mission, slated for launch in 2027.

The mission will involve a complex two-phase launch strategy, utilizing multiple spacecraft modules. It aims to collect samples from the Moon's surface and bring them back to Earth for scientific analysis.