Key Points
The International Astronomical Union (IAU) has approved naming these craters after the former PRL director and two small Indian towns...
In a significant contribution to planetary exploration, scientists from the Physical Research Laboratory (PRL) in Ahmedabad, India, have discovered three previously unknown craters on Mars...
The three craters, situated in the Tharsis volcanic region on Mars around 21.0S, 209W, have been officially designated as Lal crater, Mursan crater and Hilsa crater.. . ) What are these craters?..
A 65 km wide crater, centered at -20.98, 209.34, has been named "Lal Crater" in honour of renowned Indian geophysicist and former PRL Director, Prof. Devendra Lal, who led the institution from 1972 to 1983...
The entire area of Lal Crater is covered in lava, but subsurface radar data from NASA's SHARAD instrument on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) has revealed a 45-meter thick sedimentary deposit beneath the crater floor...
