From Rajasthan's heat to Kashmir's cold: Chandrayaan-3 finds massive lunar soil temperature variation

In India, if you are in the deserts of Rajasthan (north-west) during peak summer, the temperature could well be around 50 degrees Centigrade. Likewise, if you are in Jammu and Kashmir (north) during winters, the temperature could well be minus 10 degrees Centigrade or even colder.

There's at least 600 kilometres of distance and radically different terrain between the two regions, where such extreme climate is witnessed.

However, in the soil near the Lunar South Pole, one has to just drill 10 cm deep (less than the length of your smartphone screen), in order to see such extreme temperature variation.

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On the Lunar top soil (surface), the temperature is 50 degrees Centigrade and barely 10 cm below the surface, the temperature is minus 10 degrees Centigrade, it has been found.

TheIndian Space Research Organisationhas revealed this data based on the in-situ study conducted by the Vikram Lunar lander.

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Using its on-board ChaSTE (Chandra's Surface Thermophysical Experiment)probe, the Vikram lander has studied the temperature variation at the top surface of the Lunar soil and at a depth of 8 cm.

Notably, this study is done during the Lunar day, when sunlight is available at the Landing site. Lunar night time temperatures could be much colder.

"ChaSTE (Chandra's Surface Thermophysical Experiment) measures the temperature profile of the lunar topsoil around the pole, to understand the thermal behaviour of the moon's surface. It has a temperature probe equipped with a controlled penetration mechanism capable of reaching a depth of 10 cm beneath the surface. The probe is fitted with 10 individual temperature sensors" ISRO said.

NASA's Diviner Lunar Radiometer, on-board the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) has been mapping the moon's temperature since 2009.

According to NASA, lunar daytime temperatures near the equator reach a 120 degrees Centigrade, while nighttime temperatures get to minus 130 degrees Centigrade. The Moon’s poles are even colder.

NASA's equipment even found a place in the floor of the Moon’s Hermite Crater that was detected to be minus 250degrees Centigrade, making it the coldest temperature measured anywhere in the solar system.

Extremely cold regions similar to the one in Hermite Crater were found at the bottoms of several permanently shadowed craters at the lunar south pole and were measured in the depths of winter night, says NASA.

Notably, India's Chandrayaan-3 is the first to land near the mysterious Lunar south pole and is expected to carry out its operations for two weeks on earth (one Lunar day), starting 23^rdAugust.

The mission has a designed life of 14 earth days or one lunar day, as it is powered by solar energy that it harnessed during the Lunar day.

Notably, Russia's Luna-25, which was supposed to land near the Lunar south pole carried a Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator (simply put, a kind of nuclear battery) that could provide heat and power to the Russian lander for at least one year on earth(26 Lunar days and nights).

However, Luna-25 had crash landed before it could reach its final pre-landing orbit and could commence its soft-landing attempt.

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