{"id":1294396,"date":"2025-05-01T09:57:40","date_gmt":"2025-05-01T04:27:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/?p=1294396"},"modified":"2025-05-01T09:58:15","modified_gmt":"2025-05-01T04:28:15","slug":"chandrayaan-3-mission-discovers-primitive-lunar-mantle-on-moons-shiv-shakti-point","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/chandrayaan-3-mission-discovers-primitive-lunar-mantle-on-moons-shiv-shakti-point\/","title":{"rendered":"Chandrayaan-3 Mission Discovers Primitive Lunar Mantle On Moon&#8217;s Shiv Shakti Point"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>India\u2019s Chandrayaan-3 mission has delivered a groundbreaking scientific revelation from the Moon\u2019s southern high-latitude region. The Pragyan rover\u2019s Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer (APXS) detected unusually low levels of sodium and potassium, but significantly elevated sulfur concentrations in lunar soil at Shiv Shakti Point\u2014offering fresh insights into the Moon&#8217;s deep interior and its early volatile history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"572\" src=\"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Screenshot-2025-05-01-at-9.56.32\u202fAM-1024x572.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1294401\" srcset=\"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Screenshot-2025-05-01-at-9.56.32\u202fAM-1024x572.png 1024w, https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Screenshot-2025-05-01-at-9.56.32\u202fAM-300x167.png 300w, https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Screenshot-2025-05-01-at-9.56.32\u202fAM-768x429.png 768w, https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Screenshot-2025-05-01-at-9.56.32\u202fAM-1536x857.png 1536w, https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Screenshot-2025-05-01-at-9.56.32\u202fAM-2048x1143.png 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Contrasting Previous Lunar Findings<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This geochemical signature sharply contrasts with data from previous missions like Apollo (USA), Luna (USSR), and Chang\u2019e (China), which focused on the Procellarum KREEP Terrane (PKT). The Shiv Shakti Point lies outside this PKT region, marking the <strong>first volatile element analysis<\/strong> from a non-PKT zone and expanding the understanding of the Moon\u2019s compositional diversity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Uncovering the Ancient Lunar Mantle<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to the Physical Research Laboratory (PRL) in Ahmedabad, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.indiatoday.in\/science\/chandrayaan-3\/story\/chandrayaan-3-makes-big-discovery-on-moons-shiv-shakti-point-2717566-2025-04-30\">elevated sulfur<\/a> cannot be explained by surface phenomena such as meteoritic deposition or condensation, especially given the region&#8217;s extreme daytime heat. Instead, scientists believe the composition was shaped by the South Pole\u2013Aitken (SPA) basin impact, which occurred around 4.3 billion years ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This colossal impact is thought to have excavated materials from the Moon\u2019s <strong>primitive mantle<\/strong>, long before the formation of the potassium\/phosphorus\/rare-earth-element-rich KREEP layer that dominates other explored regions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Evidence for Lunar Magma Ocean Theory<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The APXS data supports the <strong>lunar magma ocean hypothesis<\/strong>, which proposes that the Moon\u2019s outer crust solidified from a vast, molten body. Shiv Shakti Point\u2019s soil appears to contain a blend of <em>ferroan anorthosite<\/em> from the upper crust and <em>Mg-suite rocks<\/em> from the mantle, providing a rare window into the Moon\u2019s early crustal development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Implications for Future Exploration<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This discovery not only enhances our understanding of lunar formation but also suggests sulfur could be a <strong>valuable resource<\/strong> for future Moon bases. Chandrayaan-3 underscores India\u2019s growing scientific clout in space exploration, offering critical data that could shape the next phase of human presence on the Moon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/sci-tech\/science\/iau-approves-statio-shiv-shakti-as-name-for-chandrayaan-3s-landing-site\/article67986944.ece\">Image Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>India\u2019s Chandrayaan-3 mission has delivered a groundbreaking scientific revelation from the Moon\u2019s southern high-latitude region. The Pragyan rover\u2019s Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer (APXS) detected unusually low levels of sodium and potassium, but significantly elevated sulfur concentrations in lunar soil at Shiv Shakti Point\u2014offering fresh insights into the Moon&#8217;s deep interior and its early volatile history. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":1294401,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[351],"tags":[3247,7717],"class_list":["post-1294396","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-science","tag-chandrayaan-3-2","tag-lunar-mantle"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Chandrayaan-3 Mission Discovers Primitive Lunar Mantle On Moon&#039;s Shiv Shakti Point - Trak.in - Indian Business of Tech, Mobile &amp; Startups<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/chandrayaan-3-mission-discovers-primitive-lunar-mantle-on-moons-shiv-shakti-point\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Chandrayaan-3 Mission Discovers Primitive Lunar Mantle On Moon&#039;s Shiv Shakti Point - Trak.in - Indian Business of Tech, Mobile &amp; Startups\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"India\u2019s Chandrayaan-3 mission has delivered a groundbreaking scientific revelation from the Moon\u2019s southern high-latitude region. The Pragyan rover\u2019s Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer (APXS) detected unusually low levels of sodium and potassium, but significantly elevated sulfur concentrations in lunar soil at Shiv Shakti Point\u2014offering fresh insights into the Moon&#8217;s deep interior and its early volatile history. [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/chandrayaan-3-mission-discovers-primitive-lunar-mantle-on-moons-shiv-shakti-point\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Trak.in - Indian Business of Tech, Mobile &amp; Startups\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-05-01T04:27:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-05-01T04:28:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Screenshot-2025-05-01-at-9.56.32\u202fAM-1024x572.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"572\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Mohul Ghosh\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Mohul Ghosh\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/chandrayaan-3-mission-discovers-primitive-lunar-mantle-on-moons-shiv-shakti-point\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/chandrayaan-3-mission-discovers-primitive-lunar-mantle-on-moons-shiv-shakti-point\/\",\"name\":\"Chandrayaan-3 Mission Discovers Primitive Lunar Mantle On Moon's Shiv Shakti Point - Trak.in - Indian Business of Tech, Mobile &amp; Startups\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/chandrayaan-3-mission-discovers-primitive-lunar-mantle-on-moons-shiv-shakti-point\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/chandrayaan-3-mission-discovers-primitive-lunar-mantle-on-moons-shiv-shakti-point\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Screenshot-2025-05-01-at-9.56.32\u202fAM.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-05-01T04:27:40+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-05-01T04:28:15+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/#\/schema\/person\/5092a7d2906e3f3c819643435477c2a7\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/chandrayaan-3-mission-discovers-primitive-lunar-mantle-on-moons-shiv-shakti-point\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/chandrayaan-3-mission-discovers-primitive-lunar-mantle-on-moons-shiv-shakti-point\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/chandrayaan-3-mission-discovers-primitive-lunar-mantle-on-moons-shiv-shakti-point\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Screenshot-2025-05-01-at-9.56.32\u202fAM.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Screenshot-2025-05-01-at-9.56.32\u202fAM.png\",\"width\":2304,\"height\":1286},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/chandrayaan-3-mission-discovers-primitive-lunar-mantle-on-moons-shiv-shakti-point\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Chandrayaan-3 Mission Discovers Primitive Lunar Mantle On Moon&#8217;s Shiv Shakti Point\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/\",\"name\":\"Trak.in - Indian Business of Tech, Mobile &amp; Startups\",\"description\":\"Trak.in is a popular Indian Business, Technology, Mobile &amp; Startup blog featuring trending News, views and analytical take on Technology, Business, Finance, Telecom, Mobile, startups &amp; Social Media Space\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/#\/schema\/person\/5092a7d2906e3f3c819643435477c2a7\",\"name\":\"Mohul Ghosh\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/66c129d83dd3f325a3b550eb1aa16891173ddfc4686361424206cd9a01311c89?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/66c129d83dd3f325a3b550eb1aa16891173ddfc4686361424206cd9a01311c89?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Mohul Ghosh\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/author\/mohul-ghosh\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Chandrayaan-3 Mission Discovers Primitive Lunar Mantle On Moon's Shiv Shakti Point - Trak.in - Indian Business of Tech, Mobile &amp; Startups","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/chandrayaan-3-mission-discovers-primitive-lunar-mantle-on-moons-shiv-shakti-point\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Chandrayaan-3 Mission Discovers Primitive Lunar Mantle On Moon's Shiv Shakti Point - Trak.in - Indian Business of Tech, Mobile &amp; Startups","og_description":"India\u2019s Chandrayaan-3 mission has delivered a groundbreaking scientific revelation from the Moon\u2019s southern high-latitude region. The Pragyan rover\u2019s Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer (APXS) detected unusually low levels of sodium and potassium, but significantly elevated sulfur concentrations in lunar soil at Shiv Shakti Point\u2014offering fresh insights into the Moon&#8217;s deep interior and its early volatile history. [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/chandrayaan-3-mission-discovers-primitive-lunar-mantle-on-moons-shiv-shakti-point\/","og_site_name":"Trak.in - Indian Business of Tech, Mobile &amp; Startups","article_published_time":"2025-05-01T04:27:40+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-05-01T04:28:15+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1024,"height":572,"url":"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Screenshot-2025-05-01-at-9.56.32\u202fAM-1024x572.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Mohul Ghosh","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Mohul Ghosh","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/chandrayaan-3-mission-discovers-primitive-lunar-mantle-on-moons-shiv-shakti-point\/","url":"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/chandrayaan-3-mission-discovers-primitive-lunar-mantle-on-moons-shiv-shakti-point\/","name":"Chandrayaan-3 Mission Discovers Primitive Lunar Mantle On Moon's Shiv Shakti Point - Trak.in - Indian Business of Tech, Mobile &amp; Startups","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/chandrayaan-3-mission-discovers-primitive-lunar-mantle-on-moons-shiv-shakti-point\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/chandrayaan-3-mission-discovers-primitive-lunar-mantle-on-moons-shiv-shakti-point\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Screenshot-2025-05-01-at-9.56.32\u202fAM.png","datePublished":"2025-05-01T04:27:40+00:00","dateModified":"2025-05-01T04:28:15+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/#\/schema\/person\/5092a7d2906e3f3c819643435477c2a7"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/chandrayaan-3-mission-discovers-primitive-lunar-mantle-on-moons-shiv-shakti-point\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/chandrayaan-3-mission-discovers-primitive-lunar-mantle-on-moons-shiv-shakti-point\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/chandrayaan-3-mission-discovers-primitive-lunar-mantle-on-moons-shiv-shakti-point\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Screenshot-2025-05-01-at-9.56.32\u202fAM.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Screenshot-2025-05-01-at-9.56.32\u202fAM.png","width":2304,"height":1286},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/chandrayaan-3-mission-discovers-primitive-lunar-mantle-on-moons-shiv-shakti-point\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Chandrayaan-3 Mission Discovers Primitive Lunar Mantle On Moon&#8217;s Shiv Shakti Point"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/#website","url":"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/","name":"Trak.in - Indian Business of Tech, Mobile &amp; Startups","description":"Trak.in is a popular Indian Business, Technology, Mobile &amp; Startup blog featuring trending News, views and analytical take on Technology, Business, Finance, Telecom, Mobile, startups &amp; Social Media Space","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/#\/schema\/person\/5092a7d2906e3f3c819643435477c2a7","name":"Mohul Ghosh","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/66c129d83dd3f325a3b550eb1aa16891173ddfc4686361424206cd9a01311c89?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/66c129d83dd3f325a3b550eb1aa16891173ddfc4686361424206cd9a01311c89?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Mohul Ghosh"},"url":"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/author\/mohul-ghosh\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Screenshot-2025-05-01-at-9.56.32\u202fAM.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1294396","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/30"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1294396"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1294396\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1294402,"href":"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1294396\/revisions\/1294402"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1294401"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1294396"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1294396"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trak.in\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1294396"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}