Chandrayaan-2 Large Area Soft X-ray Spectrometer (CLASS) was watching closely when the second-largest solar flare of the year occurred on May 29. As the orbiter flew over the southern farside highlands, it caught a glimpse of aluminium and calcium down below.
Not much is known about the far side of the Moon. All of the samples that were brought back during the Apollo missions were from the near side. “However, we know today that the highland compositions are more diverse than what is represented in the returned samples,” said ISRO.