Pragyan Rover confirms presence of Sulphur on lunar surface: ISRO

BENGALURU: Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Tuesday said that the Pragyan Rover has confirmed the presence of Sulphur on the lunar surface. ISRO said that the Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscope (LIBS) instrument onboard the Pragyan Rover unambiguously confirms the presence of Sulphur (S) on the lunar surface near the south pole.

Taking to X (former Twitter), ISRO said, "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." ISRO said that Pragyan Rover has also detected Aluminium, Calcium, Ferrous (Iron), Chromium, Titanium, Manganese, Silicon and Oxygen on the lunar surface. "Search for hydrogen is underway," ISRO said.

Nilesh Desai, Director, Space Applications Centre, ISRO said that the spectral line of sulphur is clearly visible at the south pole. Speaking to ANI, Nilesh Desai said, "There are two payloads in the rover, X-ray spectrograph and laser-induced spectrograph. According to its initial findings, the spectral line of sulphur is clearly visible in the south pole.

In the south pole, sulphur is clearly visible." India took a giant leap on August 23, as the Chandrayaan-3 lander module successfully landed on the moon’s South pole, making it the first country to have achieved the historic feat. The country became the fourth– after the US, China, and Russia – to have successfully landed on the moon’s surface.