Indian lunar probe finds sulfur and discovers elements near the moon’s south pole | Science and the planet

The rover that India sent to the Moon over a week ago has made a number of interesting discoveries. For example, the rover found traces of sulfur and some other elements while searching for traces of frozen water not far from the south pole on the Moon. India’s space agency, ISRO, announced this on Tuesday.

In addition to sulfur, Chandrayaan-3, as the rover is called, has detected traces of aluminum, iron, titanium and oxygen on the lunar surface.

The vehicle is expected to study the lunar surface for two weeks. It moves slowly, only ten centimeters per second, to avoid getting hurt. For now, this decision seems reasonable; On Monday, Chandrayaan-3 encountered a large crater about four meters wide, so the trajectory had to be reprogrammed. However, the vehicle is operating properly for now, says ISRO.

prestige project

For India, the Chandrayaan-3 mission has become a great success story and a prestigious project. While Russian attempts to reach Earth’s satellite failed miserably earlier this month when the lunar lander Luna 25 crashed, India has joined a select group of countries that have explored the moon over the past 60 years, after an earlier failed attempt in 2019. . India hopes, through its space programme, to show the world that it is an economic and technological superpower in the making.

Before India, only the Soviet Union, the United States and China succeeded. The launch of the Japanese lunar lander earlier this month was delayed due to weather conditions. The Americans are the only ones so far who have succeeded in sending people to the moon in addition to lunar landers.

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look. India shares the first images of the lunar lander’s trajectory

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