Chandrayaan-2 Unveils Lunar Secret: ISRO Detects Surge in Moon’s Atmosphere During Solar Storm, Marking Major Space Breakthrough
India’s relentless march into the mysteries of space has once again yielded a discovery that deepens humanity’s understanding of the Moon — our nearest celestial neighbour.
This time, it’s the Chandrayaan-2 mission, quietly orbiting the lunar surface, that has delivered a scientific revelation straight from the frontlines of space weather.
Aboard this spacecraft is a small yet powerful instrument — CHACE-2 (Chandra’s Atmospheric Composition Explorer-2) — designed to study the Moon’s whisper-thin exosphere, an atmosphere so tenuous it can’t even be compared to Earth’s.
For years, scientists had theorized that when the Sun unleashes a fiery outburst known as a Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) — a colossal burst of plasma and charged particles — the Moon’s exosphere might momentarily thicken.
Now, India’s space mission has confirmed it beyond doubt.
In May 2024, as a series of powerful CMEs struck the Moon, CHACE-2 recorded a dramatic spike in molecular density.
For a brief window, the Moon’s exosphere grew denser — the solar wind’s fury had knocked loose a flood of particles from its barren surface.
The instrument captured this surge precisely when the CME wavefront reached the lunar terrain.
“This is the first experimental evidence for the enhancement of lunar exospheric densities during a CME,” notes a paper in Geophysical Research Letters, authored by M. B. Dhanya and a team from ISRO’s Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre.
The finding is not just a triumph for science — it’s a leap forward for India’s lunar ambitions. With the government’s goal of sending Indian astronauts to the Moon by 2040, understanding the impact of solar storms has never been more vital.
The Moon, unlike Earth, lacks a magnetic shield to deflect solar radiation. Any future habitat or research base will have to survive these cosmic tempests.
“These observations,” the researchers explained, “not only push the frontiers of lunar science but also warn of the challenges of building sustainable lunar outposts.
Architects of the future Moon bases must prepare for these sudden changes in the lunar environment.”
Beyond the Moon, the implications ripple across the cosmos. Insights from CHACE-2 could illuminate how exospheres behave on other worlds — from Mercury’s baked surface to distant asteroids and exoplanets orbiting faraway stars.
Once again, India’s scientists have proven that their vision reaches beyond Earth’s orbit — into the vast, untamed theatre of space.
Each mission, each discovery, carries the same quiet promise: to unravel the secrets of the universe, one celestial clue at a time.
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