Chennai: In a significant breakthrough for Chandrayaan-3, the spacecraft’s payload has detected the presence of several chemical substances including aluminium, sulphur, calcium, iron, chromium and titanium on the south polar region of the Moon and the discovery of hydrogen is underway.
This is the first major evidence captured by the rover’s cameras installed on the lunar surface on August 23 by the lander module on the spacecraft. Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said that the Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) instrument mounted on the Vikram rover has made the first ever in-situ measurement of the lunar surface near the south pole.
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It said that these measurements clearly confirm the presence of sulphur in this region, which was not possible with the instruments on the orbiter. “Chandrayaan-3 mission: In-situ scientific experiments continue… The LIBS instrument on board the rover has for the first time clearly confirmed the presence of sulfur in the lunar surface near the south pole through in-situ measurements,” ISRO posted on a micro-blogging site X, formerly known as Twitter. The presence of many chemical substances including aluminium, sulphur, calcium, iron, chromium and titanium has been detected and the search for hydrogen is going on.
Preliminary analysis of the graphic demonstration by the rover show the presence of aluminium, sulphur, calcium, iron, chromium and titanium on the lunar surface. Further critical analysis of the data from the rover also yielded presence of manganese, silicon and oxygen. However, the presence of hydrogen is under intense investigation. The LIBS payload has been developed at the Laboratory for Electro-Optics Systems (LEOS)/ISRO, Bengaluru.
Rover clicks Chandrayaan lander
The Pragyaan rover of Chandrayaan-3 has sent across a picture of the Vikram lander on the surface of the Moon. The picture was taken this morning from a distance. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said that the ‘image of the mission’ was taken by the Navigation Camera onboard the Rover (NavCam).
The image shows Vikram lander perched on the surface of the Moon. ChaSTE (Chandra’s Surface Thermophysical Experiment) which recently measured the temperature profile of the lunar surface on the South Pole to understand the thermal behaviour of the Moon’s surface can also be seen in the picture sent over by the Pragyan rover.
Tweeting the picture, ISRO said, “Smile, please! Pragyan Rover clicked an image of Vikram Lander this morning. The ‘image of the mission’ was taken by the Navigation Camera onboard the Rover (NavCam). NavCams for the Chandrayaan-3 Mission are developed by the Laboratory for Electro-Optics Systems (LEOS).”
