As the countdown for Chandrayaan 2 progresses at the SHAR Space Port, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has raised the public curiosity levels and excitement on the July 15 launch with a teaser Tweet. The tweet posed the question - where did the moon come from?

 

Giving four possible theories, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO ) handle asks, “Is there a fifth alternative that no one has considered?

The four theories are:

1. Fission theory states that the earth’s rotational speed caused the Moon to split from the planet earth, while its gravitational pull anchored this fragment to become our natural satellite.

2. According to the Captive Theory, the moon was an untethered object before it was captured by the earth’s gravitational field during a fly by.

3. The third hypothesis of co-accretion says a single cloud of gas created the moon and the Earth while orbiting a black hole

4. Giant Impact Hypothesis attributes a collision between the Earth and another celestial body caused a segment of the planet to break off and become the moon.

Chandrayaan 2 will uncover these answers and more the ISRO tweeted.

Chandrayaan 2 - in brief

At 2.51 am early morning of Monday, the GSLV MKIII rocket will fire the mission which involves Vikram - the lander and Progyan - the rover to travel the distance and do a soft-landing on September 6. The entire mission is going through readiness and tests since Sunday at the Satish Dhawan Space Port in Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh.

ISRO’s earlier mission to the Moon in 2008, called Chandrayaan, not only succeeded but also made the remarkable discovery of water on the lunar surface.

The lunar South Pole region is of importance to India. This because the possibility of water being present in the permanently shadowed areas of the region is higher. A large section of this surface stays in the shadow compared to the North Pole.

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