INDIA’S Chandrayaan-3 moon mission has confirmed the presence of sulphur and other elements for life near the south pole.
It comes nearly a week after India’s historic moon landing and delivery of the Vikram rover, in a quest to find signs of frozen water beneath the lunar surface.
The Chandrayaan-3 rover as it manoeuvred from the lunar lander to the surface of the moon on August 24AFP
In a statement on Monday, the Indian Space Reserach Organisation (ISRO), said it had “unambiguously” found sulphur in its first-ever tests at the south pole.
The discovery was made possible with the Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) instrument aboard the Vikram rover.
The laser tool shoots a high-energy pulse onto rock or soil to see what elements the material is made up of.
Finding sulphur would not have been possible with the instruments onboard the orbiters, the ISRO added.
Preliminary analyses also reveal the presence of eight other elements on the moon’s surface:
AluminiumSulphurCalciumIronChromiumTitaniumManganeseSiliconOxygen
India’s discovery contains two of the six elements which are considered to be the building blocks of all known life: sulphur and oxygen.
Going forward, ISRO will be conducting a “thorough investigation” into the presence of hydrogen – a third necessary component to living things as we know them.
The discovery – while not water – is significant.
However, the mission to find water, liquid or frozen, continues, as it will be fundamental to supporting humans on the moon.
Water can not only be drunk by astronauts, but used to create breathable oxygen and rocket fuel.
Alongside Elon Musk’s bold plans to take humans to Mars, Earth’s moon is intended to become a crucial pit-stop to refuel.
The Vikram rover, which travels around 10cm per second, will also study the moon’s atmosphere and seismic activity, ISRO chairman S Somnath said.
India made history on Wednesday by becoming the first nation to land near the Moon’s South Pole with its Chandrayaan-3 craft.
The success makes India the fourth country to have achieved a soft landing on the Moon.
While the US, the former Soviet Union, and China have all achieved a soft landing near the moon’s equator – none have led successful missions to the lunar south pole.
It came just days after Russia’s own lunar spacecraft – it’s first in 47 years – spun out of control and crashed into the Moon after a problem preparing for pre-landing orbit.
It was India’s second try at a moon landing, following the Chandrayaan-2 attempt in 2019 which crashed into the lunar surface.
The Chandrayaan-3, which means “mooncraft” in Sanskrit, launch on July 14, entering of the lunar orbit on August 5 and landing on August 23 were all resoundingly successful.
Although the Vikram rover had a close call on Monday, when it had to be reprogrammed when it neared a four-metre-wide (13-feet) crater.
“It’s now safely heading on a new path,” the ISRO said.
Find out more about science
Want to know more about the weird and wonderful world of science? From the Moon to the human body, we have you covered…
When is the next Full Moon?
What is a Super Moon?
What is SpaceX?
Where is the edge of space?
How many bones are in the human body?
How many chromosomes do humans have?
What causes a volcano to erupt?
Which sharks attack the most humans?
What are the conspiracy theories about the world ending?
All the UFO sightings and whether aliens are real
Which country has the most earthquakes?
We pay for your stories! Do you have a story for The Sun Online Tech & Science team? Email us at [email protected]