India's Chandrayaan-3 mission has made yet another remarkable discovery on the Moon, with the Pragyan rover identifying a 160-km-wide crater near its landing site.
This significant find, reported in the latest issue of Science Direct by scientists from Ahmedabad's Physical Research Laboratory, adds to the mission's groundbreaking achievements since its successful lunar operations in 2023.
The crater was located after analysing data collected by the Pragyan rover during its exploration of a highland terrain approximately 350 km from the Aitken basin—the largest and oldest impact basin on the Moon's surface.
According to researchers, "The dust and rock from the new layer are crucial to understanding the early geological evolution of the Moon."
This newly discovered site is rich in material accumulated from past lunar impacts, making it a focal point for ongoing exploration.
The Aitken basin contributed nearly 1,400 metres of debris, with smaller craters in the vicinity adding to the geological complexity of the landscape.
Notably, the crater is believed to have formed before the creation of the South Pole-Aitken basin, which makes it one of the Moon’s oldest geological structures.
Due to its age, it has largely been buried under debris from subsequent impacts, particularly those associated with the South Pole-Aitken event.
High-resolution images captured by the rover’s optical cameras provide valuable insights into the crater's structure, offering scientists a rare opportunity to study deeply buried lunar material that dates back to some of the Moon’s earliest impacts.
This discovery is expected to yield vital information about the Moon’s geological history, enriching our understanding of its formation and evolution.
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