The Moon’s south pole was once covered in an ocean of liquid molten rock, according to scientists.
The findings back up a theory that magma formed the Moon’s surface around 4.5 billion years ago.
Remnants of the ocean were found by India’s historic Chandrayaan-3 mission that landed on the south pole last August.
The mission explored this isolated and mysterious area where no craft had ever landed before.
The findings help back up an idea called the Lunar Magma Ocean theory about how the Moon formed.
Scientists think that when the Moon formed 4.5 billion years ago, it began to cool and a lighter mineral called ferroan anorthosite floated to the surface. This ferroan anorthosite – or molten rock – formed the moon’s surface.
The team behind the new findings found evidence of ferroan anorthosite in the south pole.
“The theory of early evolution of the Moon becomes much more robust in the light of our observations,” said Dr Santosh Vadawale from the Physical Research Laboratory, who is co-author of the paper published in Nature on Wednesday.
Before India’s mission, the main evidence of magma oceans was found in the mid-latitudes of the Moon as part of the Apollo programme.
Prof Vandawale and his team were at mission control during Chandrayaan-3.
“They were really exciting times. Sitting in the control room, moving the rover around on the lunar surface – that was really a once-in-a-lifetime experience,” says Prof Vadawale.
When India’s lander, called Vikram, made its celebrated soft landing on the south pole last August, a rover called Pragyaan drove out of the craft.
Pragyaan rambled around the lunar surface for 10 days, while Prof Vadawale and
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