Chandrayaan-3 Lander Ejected 2 Tonnes Of Moon Soil, Generated Spectacular ‘Ejecta Halo

Bengaluru: The Indian Space Research Organisation on Friday revealed that lander Vikram displaced approximately 2.06 tonnes of lunar regolith (rocks and soil) as it landed on the surface of the Moon.

The Vikram lander module of India’s third lunar mission, Chandrayaan-3, blew off over 2 tonnes of Moon soil (lunar epiregolith) and generated a “spectacular ejecta halo”. The space agency said the lander displaced over an area of 108.4 square metres around the landing site. Sharing the results of Chandrayaan-3 on X, formerly Twitter, ISRO said it estimates approximately 2.06 tonnes of lunar epiregolith were ejected due to the landing event.

“On August 23, 2023, as it descended, the Chandrayaan-3 Lander Module generated a spectacular ‘ejecta halo’ of lunar material. Scientists from NRSC/ISRO estimate that about 2.06 tonnes of lunar epiregolith were ejected and displaced over an area of 108.4 m² around the landing site,” it said in the post an shared the link of a document with the details.

It said the Vikram lander of the Chandrayaan-3 mission landed near the south pole of the Moon on August 23rd, 2023 and during the action of the descent stage, thrusters and the consequent landing, a significant amount of lunar surficial epiregolith material got ejected, resulting in a reflectance anomaly or ‘ejecta halo’.