Chandrayaan-3's rover discovers minor elements, measures lunar plasma environment
Chandrayaan-3 rover is trying to find answers to with its scientific instruments.
Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer (APXS) onboard the rover, was deployed to observe the lunar sample, ISRO announced on Thursday. Later in the day it also announced that the first measurements of the lunar plasma environment over the South Pole region have been carried out.
APXS instrument is best suited for in-situ analysis of the elemental composition of soil and rocks on the surface of planetary bodies having little atmosphere, such as the Moon.
It carries radioactive sources that emit alpha particles and X-rays onto the surface sample.
The atoms present in the sample in turn emit characteristic X-ray lines corresponding to the elements present.
By measuring the energies and intensities of these characteristic X-rays, researchers can find the elements present and their abundances.
APXS observations have discovered the presence of interesting minor elements, including sulphur, apart from the major expected elements such as aluminium, silicon, calcium, iron.
«This finding by Chandrayaan-3 compels scientists to develop fresh explanations for the source of sulphur in the area: intrinsic, volcanic, or meteoritic?», said ISRO in a post on X, formerly Twitter.
The LIBS instrument on-board the Rover also confirmed the presence of sulphur on the lunar surface. Detailed scientific analysis of these observations are in progress, ISRO said.
APXS is developed by the Physical Research Laboratory (PRL), Ahmedabad with support from the Space Application Centre (SAC) Ahmedabad, whereas UR Rao Satellite Centre (URSC), Bengaluru has built the deployment mechanism.
Chandrayaan-3, India's third lunar missionlanded on the moon on August 23 and its mission
