Chandrayaan-2 CHACE-2 Records First Direct Solar CME Hit on Moon
Why in the news
An instrument circling the Moon directly watched a burst of solar plasma strike the lunar atmosphere.
Key facts
- CHACE-2: Chandra’s Atmospheric Composition Explorer-2, a neutral gas mass spectrometer studying the lunar exosphere.
- Launched 22 July 2019 on GSLV Mk-III M1.
- Successor to CHACE (Chandrayaan-1) and MENCA (Mars Orbiter Mission).
- Measures neutral gases, isotopes and noble gases such as Argon-40, in real time; mass range 1-300 amu.
Objectives and significance
- Find water vapour and heavier molecules; understand surface-exosphere interactions.
- The tenfold rise matched theoretical predictions.
- Shows how solar activity alters lunar conditions; useful for future lunar bases and space weather prediction.
Exam angle
- Instrument type: neutral gas mass spectrometer.
- Rocket: GSLV Mk-III M1.