The Indian robot Pragyan confirmed the presence of sulfur at the south pole of the Moon, the Indian space agency announced Wednesday, quoted by AFP.
India last week became the first country to successfully land a space probe on the lunar south pole and the fourth nation to make a landing.
“The Laser Induced Decay Spectroscopy (LIBS) instrument aboard the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft has made the first ‘in situ’ measurements of the composition of elements on the lunar surface near the south pole,” the Organization said. of India Research (ISRO). in a sentence.
These measurements “unequivocally confirmed” the presence of sulfur at the Moon’s south pole, as well as aluminium, calcium, iron, and titanium.
Other preliminary analyzes also revealed the presence of manganese, silicon, and oxygen in this lunar region.
Since 1970, with the Apollo samples, it was known that sulfur would be present in the lunar soil. Even so, speaking to the BBC, scientist Noah Petro hails the Indian robot’s discoveries as “a tremendous achievement.”
Pragyan, which means “wisdom”, left the Chandrayaan-3 lander and took his first steps just hours after landing on the Moon. With six wheels and powered by solar energy, this robot will travel for two weeks around the lunar south pole, an unexplored region where there will be large amounts of frozen water, collect and analyze soil samples and transmit images and scientific data to Earth.
The Chandrayaan-3 mission, launched on July 14, took 40 days to travel and reached the Moon last Wednesday at 1:30 p.m. (Lisbon time).
The landing is a special feat for India, which saw the failure of its predecessor mission, Chandrayaan-2, in 2019, which had the same goal and failed precisely in the deceleration maneuver to land on the lunar surface.
Four years after a failed attempt, India has now joined the very small club of the great space powers – the United States, Russia and China – that have reached the surface of the Moon.
In 2014, India became the first Asian country to place a spacecraft in Mars orbit and plans to send a probe to the Sun in September. The Indian Space Research Organization is expected to launch a three-day manned mission into Earth orbit next year and also wants, in 2025, to launch a joint mission with Japan to send another probe to the moon.
India also intends to send a mission to Venus in the next two years.
Source: TSF
