BENGALURU: The Shiva Shakti Point, the landing site of Chandrayaan-3 moon lander Vikram, is significant not only as a milestone in India’s space achievements but also as a key site for lunar sample collection. This has been confirmed by researchers from the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) in a recent study.
According to scientists, the Chandrayaan-3 landing site offers a promising opportunity to access primitive mantle samples — materials that are notably absent in the current lunar collections obtained by other space agencies.
Researchers from the Physical Research Laboratory (PRL) in Ahmedabad analysed the presence of volatile elements near the Moon’s south polar region.
They used the Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometers (APXS) onboard the Pragyan rover, as part of the Chandrayaan-3 mission. Their findings suggest that the site is highly suitable for future missions focused on sample collection and the study of the Moon’s evolution.
In their study, the scientists compared the elemental abundances measured by the APXS with existing datasets. They observed an unusual depletion of sodium and potassium, along with elevated levels of sulfur in the soil at the landing site.
A recent study published in Nature Communications Earth and Environment, titled ‘Chandrayaan-3 APXS Elemental Abundance Measurements at Lunar High Latitude’, also confirmed the presence of primitive lunar mantle materials at the landing site.
These materials were likely excavated during the formation of the South Pole-Aitken (SPA) basin about 4.3 billion years ago and were subsequently redistributed by later impacts on the SPA basin ejecta, the ISRO report stated.
The primitive mantle is believed to have contributed to the excess sulfur, which mixed with other materials at the landing site. The low concentrations of sodium and potassium suggest that potassium, rare earth elements, and phosphorus (KREEP) were likely absent in this region during the SPA basin’s formation.
This finding reinforces the importance of the Chandrayaan-3 site for accessing primitive mantle material—something largely missing from existing lunar samples, according to the PRL scientists.
Chandrayaan-3’s Vikram landed in the Moon’s south polar region on August 23, 2023. The APXS instrument measured elemental compositions, including the abundances of volatile elements such as sodium, potassium, and sulfur in the highland soils. Concentrations ranged from 700–2800 ppm for sodium, 300–400 ppm for potassium and 900–1400 ppm for sulfur.
Upon detailed analysis, PRL scientists found that sodium and potassium concentrations at the Chandrayaan-3 site were significantly lower compared to those in samples collected during earlier missions (Apollo 16 and Luna 20). In contrast, sulfur concentrations were found to be 300–500 ppm higher. These anomalies in volatile element concentrations point to the need for further investigation into their origin and the geological processes that contributed to their enrichment or depletion at the landing site.