Context
India celebrated its first National Space Day on 23rd August 2024.
About National Space Day
- Celebration Date: 23rd August
- Purpose: Commemorates India’s space achievements, particularly the successful soft landing of Chandrayaan-3’s Vikram Lander on the lunar surface on 23rd August 2023.
- Objective: To showcase India’s space exploration capabilities and inspire the next generation to pursue STEM careers, supporting ongoing space efforts.
- Theme for 2024: “Touching Lives while Touching the Moon: India’s Space Saga“
Recent Findings of Chandrayaan-3
- The terrain around the landing site is uniform.
- Evidence of a sea of molten rock or magma once existing beneath the lunar surface.
- The Moon’s crust was formed layer by layer, supporting the Lunar Magma Ocean (LMO) hypothesis.
- Topsoil around the lunar south pole contains more minerals than expected, reflecting the lower layers of the lunar crust.
About Lunar Magma Ocean (LMO) Hypothesis and Crust Formation
- Origin: The Moon is believed to have formed from a giant asteroid impact with Earth about 4.5 billion years ago, resulting in a molten surface that cooled over time.
- Crust Formation: Heavier minerals like olivine and pyroxene sank to form the lower crust and upper mantle, while lighter minerals like calcium and sodium-based compounds formed the upper crust.
Read more: Moon Missions
Source:
TH
Previous Year Question
Consider the following statements:
1. The Mangalyaan launched by ISRO is also called the Mars Orbiter Mission
2. It made India the second country to have a spacecraft orbit the Mars after USA
3. It made India the only country to be successful in making its spacecraft orbit the Mars in its very first attempt
[UPSC Civil Services Exam – 2016 Prelims]
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 and 3 only
(c) 1 and 3 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3
Answer: (c)
