There is a possibility that there is more ice on the moon than expected. This is based on the analysis of temperature measurement data sent to Earth by India's unmanned lunar lander Chandrayaan 3. Chandrayaan 3 landed at the moon's south pole on Aug. 23, 2023, marking humanity's first achievement.
A joint research team from the Physical Research Laboratory (PRL) and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) announced the results of their analysis of the lunar surface and subsurface temperature data collected by Chandrayaan 3 in the international journal "Communications Earth & Environment" on the 7th.
This is the first analysis of the moon's surface temperature in half a century since the United States' Apollo program in the 1970s. In particular, while previous explorations focused only on the moon's equatorial regions, this time, the temperature of the moon's south pole was analyzed for the first time.
Chandrayaan 3 consists of a lander, "Vikram," and a rover, "Prayan." The Vikram lander carried an experimental device capable of measuring the temperature of the lunar surface. It was able to measure temperatures up to 10 cm beneath the surface.
Chandrayaan 3 landed at approximately 69 degrees south latitude on the moon. At this location, the surface temperature rose to 81.85 degrees Celsius during the day and dropped to minus 168.15 degrees Celsius at night. However, on flat ground just 1 meter from the lander, the daytime high was notably lower at 58.85 degrees Celsius.
The research team noted that the reason for this temperature difference is due to the angle of the slope. In fact, Chandrayaan 3 landed on the slope of a small crater with a slope angle of 6 degrees, where the temperature probe was facing the Taeyang, resulting in higher temperatures than the adjacent flat area.
Indian scientists analyzed the impact of the slope of the moon's terrain on surface temperature based on the temperature data collected by Chandrayaan 3. They found that if the slope of the ground, facing away from the Taeyang towards the polar region, is more than 14 degrees, there is a possibility that ice could accumulate on the surface.
The research team predicted, "Regions where ice is likely to accumulate on the surface are similar to polar conditions, including locations selected by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as candidates for the Artemis crewed spacecraft's landing site," suggesting that there may be more areas on the moon where ice can form than previously estimated and that these areas may be more accessible.
References
Communications Earth & Environment (2025), DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-025-02114-6