Chandrayaan-1 confirms lunar magma ocean hypothesis

According to the giant impact hypothesis,a large amount of energy was liberated in the formation of moon due to which a huge portion of the body was once completely molten,forming a lunar magma ocean.

“Plagioclase rose to the surface of the moon because of its lighter density and lack of iron. This happened when the moon’s crust cooled,after its violent and turbulent beginning,” Pieters,who is also associated with a NASA spectroscopy programme at the University,said.

She said the mission had further helped to observe and analyse the spread and formation of minerals on the moon and to understand the history of moon better. CHANDRAYAAN 2 LAST Expressing hope that Chandrayaan would help peg the possibility of mineral ore exploitation in future,she said,“Such research will enable us to know about the minerals on the moon,which could be utilised in the long term”.

“All this information will help us to understand better the history of the moon,which is already the model for all terrestrial planets,” Pieters said.

Moon is a young planet,which also gives us an insight into how other planets could have evolved when they were younger,she said.

Pieters presented a paper on the Initial scientific results of the moon mineralogy mapper on Chandrayaan: volatiles on the moon,at a low cost planetary missions conference in Panaji.