Indian rover discovers sulfur on the Moon's south pole

(Patria) - India's lunar rover has confirmed the presence of sulfur on the Moon's south pole, the space agency of the South Asian country announced.

India last week became the first country to successfully land a spacecraft near the largely unexplored south pole and the fourth country to ever land on the Moon.

"The Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) instrument on the Chandrayaan-3 rover conducted the first-ever in-situ measurements of the chemical composition of the lunar surface near the south pole."

"These in-situ measurements conclusively confirm the presence of sulfur in the area, something that was not possible to measure with instruments on orbiters," stated the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

Spectrographic analysis also confirmed the presence of aluminum, calcium, iron, chromium, and titanium on the lunar surface, ISRO added, with additional measurements showing the presence of manganese, silicon, and oxygen.

The Pragyan rover, which means wisdom in Sanskrit, has six wheels and is powered by solar energy. Over two weeks, it will slowly move across the south pole, transmitting images and scientific data.

India is gradually matching the achievements of other space programs at significantly lower costs, despite facing some difficulties.

India's previous lunar mission failed during its final descent four years ago, which was then considered a major setback for the program, reports Hina.

Chandrayaan-3 has captured public attention since its launch nearly six weeks ago before thousands of enthusiastic viewers, and its successful landing on the Moon last week came just days after a Russian spacecraft crashed in the same area.

In 2014, India became the first Asian country to send a spacecraft into Mars orbit and plans to send a probe toward the Sun in September.

ISRO plans to send a three-member crew into Earth orbit by next year.

It also plans a joint mission with Japan to send another probe to the Moon by 2025 and a mission to Venus orbit within the next two years.