India’s Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft, which aced its historic landing near the moon’s south pole last August, barely kicked up any moon dust during descent thanks to a unique configuration of engines, a new study reveals. As a result, its cameras got clear views of the landing region during the critical minutes prior to touchdown, therefore capturing images that helped the spacecraft avoid hazardous craters and ultimately land safely.
Speaking at the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, Suresh K shared the pre- and post-landing images from the mission. The study shows that the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft has the least amount of moon dust plume among previous missions, including NASA’s Apollo ones and China’s Chang’e-3 endeavors.