New Delhi: On August 23, India made history by becoming the first country to successfully make a landing on the south pole of the moon. The successful soft landing of Chandrayaan-3 made India the fourth nation to land on the moon after the United States, the former Soviet Union and China.
Chandrayaan-3 mission now has spent nearly a week on the Moon after it landed in the south polar region.
Here’s a look at Chandrayaan 3 found so far:
List of elements Pragyan Rover found on the moon
The Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscope instrument onboard ‘Pragyan’ rover of Chandrayaan-3 has “unambiguously confirmed” the presence of sulphur in the lunar surface near south pole.
Chandrayaan-3 Mission:
In-situ scientific experiments continue …..
Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscope (LIBS) instrument onboard the Rover unambiguously confirms the presence of Sulphur (S) in the lunar surface near the south pole, through first-ever in-situ measurements.… pic.twitter.com/vDQmByWcSL
— ISRO (@isro) August 29, 2023
“Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscope (LIBS) instrument onboard the Rover unambiguously confirms the presence of Sulphur (S) in the lunar surface near the south pole, through first-ever in-situ measurements. Al, Ca, Fe, Cr, Ti, Mn, Si, and O are also detected, as expected. Search for Hydrogen (H) is underway,” the space agency tweeted.
Lunar temperature
ISRO has reported that the Chandra’s Surface Thermophysical Experiment (ChaSTE), an instrument on the lander module, has recorded a significant decrease in temperature in the topsoil of the moon.
At a depth of just 10 cm below the surface, the temperature dropped to approximately -10 degrees Celsius, while the surface temperature was around 45 degrees Celsius.
Chandrayaan-3 Mission:
Here are the first observations from the ChaSTE payload onboard Vikram Lander.ChaSTE (Chandra’s Surface Thermophysical Experiment) measures the temperature profile of the lunar topsoil around the pole, to understand the thermal behaviour of the moon’s… pic.twitter.com/VZ1cjWHTnd
— ISRO (@isro) August 27, 2023
The payload has a temperature probe equipped with a controlled penetration mechanism. The temperature probe is fitted with 10 individual temperature sensors. The penetration mechanism is capable of reaching a depth of 10 cm under the lunar surface.