NEW DELHI, Aug 29 India's Pragyan lunar rover has made the first measurements of the composition of the moon's surface near the south pole and found sulfur and metals such as aluminum and iron, the Indian Space Research Organization said.
“The laser-spark emission spectrometry instrument aboard the Chandrayaan-3 lunar rover made the first-ever measurements of the elemental composition of the lunar surface near the south pole. These measurements unambiguously confirm the presence of sulfur in the region, which was impossible to determine using instruments on board the orbiters … «Preliminary analyzes, presented graphically, revealed the presence of aluminum, sulfur, calcium, iron, chromium and titanium on the surface of the moon. Further measurements revealed the presence of manganese, silicon and oxygen. A thorough study is underway for the presence of hydrogen,» the Indian space agency said.
Laser spark emission spectrometry is a technique that analyzes the composition of materials by exposing them to intense laser pulses. A laser pulse is focused on the surface of a material such as rock or soil and creates a plasma. Elemental analysis occurs because each element emits a characteristic set of wavelengths of light when it is in its plasma state.
India was the first in the world to successfully land a spacecraft on the south pole of the moon on 23 August. The Chandrayaan-3 robotic space station was launched into space on July 14 and entered lunar orbit on August 5. The Vikram descent module separated from the station on August 17 and performed two orbit-descent operations before landing. The Indian Space Research Organization also reported that the Pragyan Indian lunar rover has landed on the surface of the Earth's natural satellite.
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