Chandrayaan-3: According to the Indian Space Research Organisation, the Chandrayaan-3 rover Pragyan has discovered the presence of sulphur close to the lunar surface’s south pole.
The Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) instrument on board the rover discovered sulphur while making the first-ever in-situ measurements on the elemental composition of the lunar surface.
“These in-situ measurements confirm the presence of Sulphur (S) in the region unambiguously, something that was not feasible by the instruments onboard the orbiters,” it said. Along with sulphur, the LIBS instrument also discovered the presence of titanium (Ti), calcium, iron, and chromium on the lunar surface.
“Further measurements have revealed the presence of manganese (Mn), silicon (Si), and oxygen (O),” it said. According to ISRO, the rover is currently doing experiments to find hydrogen.
Additional findings made by the Pragyan rover
Since its successful Moon landing on August 23, India’s Chandrayaan-3 has made a number of groundbreaking findings. The Pragyan rover has not only discovered enormous craters in the south polar region but also vast temperature fluctuations on the lunar surface.
The ChaSTE (Chandra’s Surface Thermophysical Experiment) equipment aboard the rover discovered that the temperature on the Moon’s surface was roughly 50 degrees Celsius, rising to almost 60 degrees at a height of 20 mm.
The temperature plunged to – 10 degrees Celsius at a depth of minus 80mm, which is below the surface of the ground.
To understand the thermal behaviour of the moon’s surface, the ChaSTE analyses the temperature profile of the topsoil surrounding the pole. It has a temperature probe with a controlled penetration mechanism that can pierce the surface to a depth of 10 cm. There are ten separate temperature sensors on the probe.
Also Read: TCS onboards 44,000 freshers in FY23, honors all job offers
Keep watching our YouTube Channel ‘DNP INDIA’. Also, please subscribe and follow us on FACEBOOK
