Panaji, September 02: India’s maiden moon mission, Chandrayaan-1, in one of its vital findings, has endorsed the lunar magma ocean hypothesis, helping the scientists better understand the history of the satellite, a NASA scientist said here today.
Speaking at an international conference here, Carle Pieters, a professor at the US-based Brown University, who was associated with the Chandrayaan as a moon mineral mapper, said, visual confirmation of anorthite – a rich calcium plagioclase – on the upper lunar surface had virtually endorsed the 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.
–PTI