Scientists have discovered radioactive granite on the moon. Granite needs water and plate tectonics to form on Earth. A much rarer and more powerful process would be necessary to produce it on the moon. They think it involves volcanoes. The area where the granite was detected is warmer than it should be, perhaps providing credence to the volcano theory.
The Indian Space Research Organization launched Chandrayaan-3 today on a mission to land at the moon’s south pole. It went off without a hitch.
Probably.
We are about to see a flurry of missions that will attempt to land on the Moon. During the last decade, dating to China’s Chang’e 3 lander in 2013, there have been six attempts to land on the Moon. Three of these missions have been Chang’e landers, and all were successful. Three other attempts, one backed by Israel, another by India’s space program, and a third by a private Japanese company, ispace, have failed to softly touch down on the Moon.
Now, in the next six months, as many as six more landing attempts may come.