New Delhi: India’s Chandrayaan-2 mission has made history by becoming the first spacecraft to directly observe the impact of a solar Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) on the Moon.

On May 10, 2024, the mission’s Chandra’s Atmospheric Compositional Explorer-2 (CHACE-2) instrument detected a sharp increase in the density of neutral atoms in the Moon’s exosphere, the extremely thin layer of gas surrounding the lunar surface. Scientists say this increase, more than ten times the usual levels, matched earlier theoretical predictions, marking the first direct measurement of such an event.

Unlike Earth, the Moon lacks a global magnetic field and a substantial atmosphere, leaving its surface highly exposed to solar wind and radiation. These observations provide crucial insights into how space weather

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