India's Chandrayaan-3 lunar lander barely kicked up any moon dust. Here's why that matters

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 on Monday at the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference , which is being held this week in Texas, K shared with scientists pre- and post-landing images from the mission, which operated on the moon for two weeks beforeDuring descent, spacecraft fire their engines to reduce their speeds in preparation for a soft landing.

He and his colleagues analyzed pre- and post-landing images of the touchdown area clicked by the lander named Vikram as well as by a high-resolution camera onboard thein 2019. The sprayed dust stemming from Vikram's touchdown settled down into about 1,561 square feet around the lander, as confirmed by a camera onboard the rover Pragyan . This is higher thanof 1,167 square feet , meaning the spacecraft would have displaced much more than 4,500 pounds of lunar regolith.

Vikram and Pragyan notched several milestones during their two operating weeks at the landing site, which Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi named the. The name is yet to be approved by the International Astronomical Union , the organization responsible for officially naming celestial bodies and their features.

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