Overview
- Researchers at IIT Kharagpur and PRL reported an experimentally backed, two-stage path where trapped titanium-rich melts later mix with rising magma to produce the Moon’s high‑Ti basalts.
- The team used a piston‑cylinder press to reach 3 GPa and about 1,500°C, testing layered contact and mixed rocks that yielded melts with roughly 9–19% titanium dioxide.
- The combined model matched observed magnesium, titanium, silicon and iron in lunar lavas but ran low on aluminium oxide and calcium oxide, flagging gaps for new tests and returned samples.
- The findings support Chandrayaan‑4 planning by pointing to ilmenite‑bearing targets near the south pole, and ISRO’s Space Applications Centre has marked a nearby mountainous zone as a strong landing candidate.
- The authors detailed on‑site tools to screen rocks, including microscopic cameras plus X‑ray and Raman or visible‑near‑infrared spectrometers, and noted India now runs its own high‑pressure planetary labs.