As India’s pride Chandrayaan-2 is set to make a historic landing on the lunar surface, here’s a small writeup on the age of the moon.
Bengaluru: Ever wondered how old earth’s satellite moon is? Well, a few thousand years or few lakh years? No, it is as old as 4.51 billion years! Surely, the moon is very, very old!
Space.com, a website reveals that a new analysis of lunar rocks brought to Earth by Apollo astronauts suggests that the moon formed 4.51 billion years ago — just 60 million years after the solar system itself took shape.
Also read: Chandrayaan-2: Ever wondered how the surface of moon is like?
While the number remains so, there is still some confusion about it as others say it formed 150 million to 200 million years after the solar system was born.
A word about the moon's birth
The website adds that astronomers think the moon was born after a Mars-size body (or a series of such big objects) slammed into the early Earth. Some of the material blasted into space coalesced to form Earth's nearest neighbour.
Coming back to the topical issue of Chandrayaan-2 landing on the lunar surface, it is expected that the voyage vehicle will land on the moon anytime early Saturday (September 7). While Pragyan and Vikram will land on the surface, the Orbiter will go around the moon, mapping the surface.
The project, approved by the then Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a cost of Rs 980 crore was launched last July 22.
India happens to be the fourth country after US, Russia and China to send missions to the moon. This time, when the Chandrayaan-2 launches, it will be the first space vehicle to land on the south pole of the moon.
The moon’s surface abounds with wetlands and craters.
The first manned mission to moon was the Apollo 11 launched by the US in 1969.
Apollo 11 achieved its primary mission - to perform a manned lunar landing and return the mission safely to Earth - and paved the way for the Apollo lunar landing missions to follow.
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