Chandrayaan-3 update: Another instrument on Pragyan rover confirms presence of sulphur on Moon

Chandrayaan-3 latest: The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Thursday shared another update regarding Chandrayaan-3, its ambitious lunar mission. The space agency said that the Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer (APXS), another instrument onboard the spacecraft’s Pragyan rover, has confirmed the presence of Sulphur on the lunar South Pole. 

The instrument also detected other minor elements including Sulfur in the region. It also discovered major elements such as Aluminium, Silicon, Calcium and Iron. Sulphur’s presence on Tuesday was also confirmed by Pragyan rover’s Laser-induced Breakdown Spectroscope (LIBS) instrument. 

ISRO shared a video of the rover in action and wrote: "The video shows an automated hinge mechanism rotating the 18 cm tall APXS, aligning the detector head to be approximately 5 cm in proximity to the lunar surface. PRL, Ahmedabad has developed APXS with support from PRL, Ahmedabad. URSC, Bengaluru has developed the deployment mechanism".  

The Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer (APXS) instrument, developed by Ahmedabad’s Physical Research Laboratory (PRL), is best suited for in-situ analysis of the elemental composition of soil and rocks on the surface of planetary bodies having little atmosphere like the Moon. The instrument has radioactive sources which emit alpha particles and X-rays onto the surface sample.

The Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer (APXS) instrument has been developed by Ahmedabad’s Physical Research Laboratory (PRL) with support from Space Application Centre (SAC) in Ahmedabad. Bengaluru’s UR Rao Satellite Centre (URSC) has built the instrument’s deployment centre. 

Not only this, ISRO also shared another video of the Pragyan rover being rotated on the Moon’s surface to find a safe route. The rover on Sunday also encountered a four-metre-wide crater in its path. Following this, it was commanded to move onto a new path. The tracks left by the rover were captured by its navigation camera.  

These Chandrayaan mission updates come when the rover has reached around half of its stated life of one lunar day (14 Earth days). The rover has to complete several scientific experiments before one lunar day ends next week.  Chandrayaan-3 scripted history on August 23, when its Pragyan rover along with the Vikram lander touched down smoothly on the lunar South Pole.  

Also Read: Chandrayaan-3 update: ISRO shares new video of Pragyan rover changing course on Moon

Also Watch: Chandrayaan-3 Update: From clicking Vikram Lander’s image, giving out surface temperature to sulphur—ISRO shares findings so far on Moon's South Pole

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