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Chandrayaan-3's ChaSTE became the first instrument to penetrate the lunar soil near the Moon's south pole and conduct in-situ temperature measurements.

About Chandra’s Surface Thermophysical Experiment (ChaSTE)

It is a special instrument on Chandrayaan-3 mission that measures the temperature of the Moon’s surface and just below it.

By measuring the temperature, scientists can learn more about the Moon’s soil and whether it’s suitable for future exploration or even human settlements.

What makes ChaSTE unique compared to other missions?

ChaSTE is the first instrument ever to successfully dig into the soil of a celestial body (like the Moon) to measure temperature. Earlier missions, like the European Space Agency’s Philae lander and NASA’s InSight lander, tried to do something similar but failed.

Philae landed on a comet in 2014 but bounced around and couldn’t use its temperature-measuring tool. NASA’s InSight lander on Mars had a tool nicknamed “The Mole,” which was supposed to dig deep into the Martian soil, but it got stuck and didn’t work properly.

ChaSTE dug 10 cm into the Moon’s soil and collected accurate temperature data.

How ChaSTE work?

ChaSTE works like a tiny robotic drill with temperature sensors.

After the Vikram lander touched down on the Moon, ChaSTE’s motor started spinning. This spinning motion pushed the probe needle slowly into the Moon’s soil.
As the needle touched the Moon’s surface, one of its sensors detected the contact.
The motor kept spinning, pushing the needle deeper into the soil. The Moon’s soil offered resistance, so the motor had to work harder as the probe went deeper. Scientists used this information to figure out exactly how far the probe had gone.
ChaSTE stopped digging when it reached 10 cm deep. Then, it started taking temperature readings at different depths using its 10 sensors, which are spaced 1 cm apart.