To understand the thermal behavior of the lunar surface, CHEST measured the temperature profile of the lunar mantle around the poles.
Bengaluru:
The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) on Sunday released a graph of temperature changes on the surface of the moon and a senior scientist of the space agency expressed surprise at the highest temperature ever recorded on the moon.
According to the National Space Agency, the Lunar Surface Thermophysical Experiment (CHEST) measured the ‘temperature profile’ of the lunar mantle around the south pole to understand the thermal behavior of the lunar surface.
Also read this
ISRO said in a post on ‘X’ (formerly Twitter), “Here are the first observations of the chest payload on the Vikram lander. To understand the thermal behavior of the lunar surface, CHEST measured the temperature profile of the lunar mantle around the poles.
ISRO scientist B.K. H.M. “We all thought the surface temperature might be around 20 degrees Celsius to 30 degrees Celsius, but it is 70 degrees Celsius,” Darukesh told ‘PTI-Bhasha’. This is surprisingly more than we expected.” The space agency said the payload contains a temperature measuring instrument capable of reaching a depth of 10 centimeters below the surface.
ISRO said in a statement, “It has 10 temperature sensors. The graph presented shows the variation of surface/near-surface temperature of the Moon at different depths. This is the first such record for the South Pole of the Moon. Detailed observations are in progress.” Scientist Darukesha said, “When we go two to three centimeters inside the Earth, we barely see a difference of two to three degrees Centigrade, while there (the Moon) it is about 50 degrees Centigrade.” There is a difference. . This is interesting.
The senior scientist said that the temperature below the moon’s surface drops to minus 10 degrees Celsius. He said the difference is 70 degrees Celsius to minus 10 degrees Celsius. ISRO said the ‘chest’ payload was developed by a team led by Space Physics Laboratory (SPL) of ISRO’s Vikram Sarabhai Space Center (VSSC) in collaboration with Physical Research Laboratory (PRL), Ahmedabad.
Taking a giant leap in space missions, on August 23, India’s lunar mission ‘Chandrayaan-3’ landed on the South Pole of the Moon, making it the first country in the world to land on this region of the Moon and the fourth country in the world to successfully land on the lunar surface. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday announced that the Chandrayaan-3 landing site on the moon will be named ‘Shiva Shakti’ Bindu and August 23 will be celebrated as ‘National Space Day’.
Modi said the spot on the lunar surface where Chandrayaan-2 left its footprints in 2019 will be known as the ‘Tiranga’ point.