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New Delhi, What was known in theory has now been confirmed twice. The Chandrayaan-3 mission has authenticated the presence of sulphur on the lunar south pole region after on site tests, a historical first that could provide clues to the origins of the Moon and also have profound significance for space exploration, say scientists. On Thursday, India's space agency ISRO said the Alpha Particle X-ray Spectroscope (APXS) instrument onboard the Pragyan rover confirmed the presence of sulphur and some other elements in the lunar south. Before that, on Tuesday, ISRO announced that another instrument, the Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscope (LIBS), found sulphur in the region. In line with expectations, ISRO also reported the LIBS instrument had detected aluminium, calcium, iron, chromium, titanium, manganese, silicon and oxygen. "The elements found on the Moon are not merely isolated compounds. They are time capsules carrying the whispers of cosmic history. Such findings not only reshape our comprehension of lunar formations but also offer potential prospects for lunar exploration and habitation," Akash Sinha, who was involved in developing software for the Pragyan rover, told PTI. "One prevailing theory is that the sulphur may be trapped within water ice, implying that we might be on the brink of a monumental discovery: the physical presence of water ice on the moon," the professor of practice at Shiv Nadar Institution of Eminence in Delhi-NCR added. An old undated document from the US space agency NASA suggested the potential utilisation of sulphur for making lunar bricks or concrete using it with moon soil. Interestingly, China's reported plans to test printing bricks from lunar soil this decade for constructing a permanent moon base align with this idea. The revelation of sulphur's presence might hold clues to the Moon's composition and its volcanic past, scientists said. "Surface sulphur comes from volcanic activity, indicating heavy volcanism at some point in the Moon's history. However, the detection is from only one spot, so we need more data to gain a clearer picture," said T V Venkateswaran, a scientist at Vigyaan Prasar, an autonomous organisation under the Department of Science and Technology (DST). Sinha added that the discovery of sulphur represents a significant breakthrough in the understanding of lunar geology. "The presence of sulphur, especially in an area where volcanic activity-a common source of sulphur-is notably absent opens up intriguing possibilities about the origins of the Moon," he said. According to astrophysicist Sandip Chakrabarti, the in-situ measurements definitively confirm sulphur's presence in the region, a feat beyond the capabilities of the instruments on the previous Chandrayaan 1 and 2 orbiters. "The compositions show abundant lighter metals such as aluminium and also abundant sulphur and iron. Sulphur could come from lunar volcanoes. Only traces of heavy metals such as titanium, and chromium, were found. These are along the expected lines," Chakrabarti, director of the Indian Center for Space Physics in Kolkata, told PTI. These elements, he explained, aren't in their pure form and would need processing for future extraction. "The discoveries made by Chandrayaan-3 hold vast implications for lunar exploration. Beyond the allure of space travel, the presence of these elements paints a vivid picture of the Moon's character," Chakrabarti reflected. Experts also believe that aluminium's lightweight strength could become a resource for future missions, potentially transforming the Moon into a launchpad for further space exploration. Calcium's critical role in biological processes could fuel discussions about the Moon's potential as a scientific research hub. Chakrabarti expressed his enthusiasm for Pragyan's contribution. "It is indeed heartening that Pragyan is actually sending the composition of the topsoil of the landing area, namely, Shiv-Shakti point." He also highlighted the need for helium, hydrogen and water for future space travel, survival and power generation. "Right now, we are concentrating on survival on the Moon and not getting richer," he added. ISRO has initiated a thorough investigation into the presence of hydrogen. Venkateswaran, who is also a member of the outreach committee of the Astronomical Society of India, emphasised the rover's role in confirming a finding from Chandrayaan-1 about hydrogen particles reflected by the Moon's surface in 2008. "We do need to see water in any of its forms and hydrogen. That would be a genuine achievement," Chakrabarti added. Chandrayaan-3 touched down on the lunar south pole on August 23, making India the first country to land on the uncharted surface.

Chandrayaan's detection of sulphur, other elements will help unveil Moon's mysteries, say experts

It didn't take long for <keyword id="3658" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="india" source="Orion">India</keyword>'s Chandrayaan-3 mission to make waves after its momentous soft-landing on the <keyword id="42440" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="moon" source="Orion">Moon</keyword>. In a matter of days, scientists found themselves pondering the causes of the newly discovered enigmatic moonquakes and overheating occurrences on the lunar surface. However, one revelation, in particular, had researchers brimming with anticipation: the unearthing of <keyword id="4417611" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="sulphur" source="Orion">sulphur</keyword>. Scientists were aware of the existence of sulphur deposits on the Moon, but they were considered too scant to be of much use. However, this recent discovery turned that assumption on its head. If you were to examine images of the Moon, you'd notice patches of dark and white covering its entire surface. The dark areas consist of volcanic rock, which typically contains higher concentrations of sulphur compared to the white "highlands" material. Volcanic activity causes sulphur-rich rocks deep within the Moon to melt, and they later surface as magma, which eventually cools to form these dark regions. During this process, some of this sulphur inadvertently escapes into the Moon's thin atmosphere. Scientists believe that this sulphur would eventually have made its way to the lunar poles, where the frigid temperatures, dropping as low as -230°C due to the lack of consistent direct sunlight, would cause the element to solidify on the surface. This theory of condensation could explain why the Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer and the LIBS instruments on Chandrayaan-3's <keyword id="7723302" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="pragyan-rover" source="Orion">Pragyan Rover</keyword> detected sulphur near the landing site. Further calibration will be necessary to confirm the findings, but initial data suggests that sulphur levels in this area might be significantly higher than those in the volcanic rock near the lunar equator. Planetary scientist Jeffrey Gillis-Davis suggests that the mysterious concentrations of polar sulphur could also have resulted from ancient volcanic eruptions in the region. Meteorites carrying sulphur might have transported substantial amounts of the element when they collided with the Moon in the past. Sulphur holds great promise for a variety of applications in Moon exploration and potential habitation. Given the challenges and expenses of shuttling between <keyword id="6359982" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="earth" source="Orion">Earth</keyword> and the Moon, not to mention the risks involved, having access to abundant local resources can be a literal lifesaver! Jeffrey proposes that scientists could use sulphur to create waterless concrete for building Moon bases and produce sulphur-based solar cells, batteries, and even fertilisers for potential farming operations. The limited water we transport to our lunar neighbour could then be redirected for essential purposes like producing drinking water, breathable oxygen, and rocket fuel. Despite the challenges faced by Chandrayaan-3's <keyword id="7864315" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="vikram-lander" source="Orion">Vikram Lander</keyword> and Pragyan Rover in reactivating from their planned slumber, the data gathered by this historic spacecraft is invaluable and is sure to benefit all future lunar missions. When mainstream society eventually takes the inevitable leap to the Moon, they will have ISRO to thank for these groundbreaking discoveries.

Lunar bounty: Chandrayaan-3's sulphur discovery could help us get much closer to building Moon colonies

Chennai, <keyword id="6358064" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="isro" source="Orion">ISRO</keyword> has lined up a series of exploration missions including to Mars, Venus and to the Moon again, apart from the maiden human spaceflight programme, Chairman <keyword id="2618685" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="s-somanath" source="Orion">S Somanath</keyword> said. The space agency also has drawn up plans to launch missions for studying climate and weather conditions of the Earth, the space agency chief said, speaking to reporters on Sunday. Besides, ISRO is also working on regular scientific missions including communication, remote sensing satellites, Somanath, who is also the Secretary of the Department of Space, said here. Speaking about the Gaganyaan programme, he said the maiden TV-D1 test flight is scheduled for October 21. Elaborating about the upcoming missions undertaken by the Bengaluru-headquartered space agency, he said, "We have exploration missions. We have plans to go to Mars, Venus, again sometime to the Moon. We also have programmes to look at the climate and weather of Earth." Stressing that the scientists at ISRO would be focused on taking up regular missions like launching satellites for communications and remote sensing, he said scientific missions are also in the pipeline to look at issues like aeronomy, thermal imaging, and climate change impact assessment. "So many things are there and we are very busy doing all of this," he said. To a query about whether scientists were able to receive any kind of response from the Vikram lander of the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft, which successfully made a soft-landing on the surface of the Moon on August 23, he said Vikram had done its job very well during the lunar day (equivalent of 14 Earth days) at which time it was programmed to perform its functions. "It is happily sleeping on the Moon. It has done its job very well. Maybe if it wishes to wake up, let it wake up. Until then, we will wait," he said. ISRO made efforts to re-establish communication with rover Pragyan and lander Vikram after they were put into sleep mode in September following the onset of night on the Moon. "No signals have been received from them. Efforts to establish contact will continue," ISRO had said. After the historic landing on August 23, lander Vikram and rover Pragyan performed different tasks on the lunar surface, including detecting the presence of sulphur and recording relative temperature. About ISRO's maiden mission to study the Sun, Somanath said the spacecraft is 'very healthy' and is on a 110-day long journey to the Lagrange point L1 and is expected to reach the intended destination by "middle of January." "It is a long journey. It is almost 110 days of journey and it has covered some distance now. We corrected a little bit of its trajectory, because early correction is important to reach the L1 point. After tracking, we find it is going in the right direction towards the L1 point," he said. Observing that the rocket is on a 'complex travel', Somanath said, "It takes almost another 70-75 days further to reach. By the middle of January, it will reach there. After that, we will make some corrections to make it enter into the Halo orbit at the L1 point." "After that instruments will be switched on and it will start doing the scientific data streaming. Currently, everything is very healthy on Aditya L1," he said. Aditya-L1 was launched on September 2, and it is the first Indian space-based observatory that will study the Sun from a halo orbit around the first <keyword id="19149915" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="sun-earth-lagrangian" source="Orion">Sun-Earth Lagrangian</keyword> point (L1), which is located roughly 1.5 million km from the Earth. Earlier, Somanath visited the residence of renowned agricultural scientist <keyword id="86797" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="m-s-swaminathan" source="Orion">M S Swaminathan</keyword>, who passed away on September 28. He met the family members of the eminent plant geneticist known as the driving force behind India's 'Green Revolution', here in the city. "I am here today just to pay my tributes and my affection to his (M S Swaminathan's) contribution... Whoever works in whichever field whether it is space, agriculture or sustainability and many other domains, we all find a place to work together," he said. "Thank you so much for the opportunity. His (M S Swaminathan's) legacy will continue to inspire more young people in the country to work in science and technology." Somanath said.

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Chandrayaan's detection of sulphur, other elements will help unveil Moon's mysteries, say experts

PTI

Lunar bounty: Chandrayaan-3's sulphur discovery could help us get much closer to building Moon colonies

Ankush Banerjee

ISRO 'very busy' with various exploration missions in pipeline: Chairman

PTI

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