NEW DELHI: Indian scientists have discovered signs of possible presence of ice beneath shadowed craters near the moon’s south pole using data from a lunar orbiter launched almost seven years ago, the country’s space agency has announced.
The Chandrayaan-2 orbiter was part of a mission that included a lander and rover, aimed at exploring the south pole of the moon. Since reaching lunar orbit in 2019, it has been mapping the moon’s surface and studying its polar region with the highest resolution camera in any lunar mission.
Using radar data from the spacecraft, scientists at the Indian Space Research Organization investigated a 1.1 km region, shielded from sunlight and radiation, inside the Moon’s Faustini crater that showed “particularly strong evidence of subsurface ice” through radar observations and surface features.
“Using advanced radar polarimetric analysis, scientists identified radar signatures consistent with the possible presence of subsurface ice beneath the floors of four doubly shadowed craters in the lunar South Polar Region,” the ISRO said in a statement on Wednesday evening.
“These findings provide important new insights into the distribution of lunar polar volatiles and have significant implications for future lunar exploration missions.”
