Oxygen on Moon!

Chandrayaan 3, India's lunar mission, achieved a significant milestone that no other nation had accomplished before—a touchdown on the South Pole of the Moon. This achievement garnered worldwide praise, but not many people are aware of the fascinating discoveries made during the Pragyan rover's mission on Chandrayaan 3. In this video, we will delve into these discoveries.

On August 23, 2023, Chandrayaan 3 successfully landed on the Moon. The next day, on August 24, the Vikram Lander deployed the Pragyaan rover to commence its mission. ISRO kept the public updated on the mission's progress through Twitter. From August 24 to September 4, Vikram and Pragyan conducted observations on the Moon for nearly 12 days before entering a rest mode. There are expectations that they will awaken in the future, but we'll discuss this later. For now, let's focus on the observations made during these 12 days.

On August 27, the Pure instrument on the Vikram Lander collected crucial data. Pure stands for Chandra's Surface Thermophysical Examination, and its task was to measure the temperature of the lunar soil to understand temperature variations on the Moon's South Pole. The temperature was measured using a probe attached to Pragyaan, and there were 10 sensors on Pragyaan. The surprising findings showed that the temperature changes by 10°C for every 1 cm below the lunar surface. Surface temperature was around 60°C, but at a depth of 8 cm, it dropped to -10°C. This significant temperature contrast in just 8 cm is a remarkable discovery.

The data collected from these observations allowed the creation of the first-ever profile of temperature changes from 0 to 80 mm depth on the South Pole of the Moon. ISRO also shared images of Pragyaan when it was just 3 meters away from a large pit, indicating that Pragyaan had to change its course to avoid falling into it.

Regarding Pragyan's payloads, on August 28, the Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) instrument confirmed the presence of sulfur on the Moon's South Pole. This marked the first in-situ measurement of sulfur on the lunar surface, making it a significant achievement. LIBS was developed by the Laboratory for Electro-Optics Systems in Bangalore, India, in collaboration with ISRO. It analyzes the composition of lunar soil and rocks using high-energy laser pulses. These pulses convert a small area of lunar soil into plasma, and the emitted light contains different frequencies corresponding to various elements. By analyzing these frequencies, LIBS can identify the elements present in the lunar soil.

NASA's Project Scientist Noah Petro mentioned that sulfur had been identified on the Moon by the Apollo and Luna missions in the 1970s. However, Chandrayaan's discovery is groundbreaking because it is an in-situ finding, collected directly from the Moon's surface. Unlike previous observations made from orbiters, LIBS provides more accurate data.

In addition to sulfur, elements such as manganese, silicon, and oxygen were also confirmed to be present on the Moon's surface. The presence of oxygen is particularly exciting, as it exists in the form of chemical bonds with other elements within lunar rocks and soil. This oxygen could potentially be extracted and used for various purposes, including supporting human activities on the Moon.

These discoveries highlight the importance of precise instruments and advanced technology in space exploration. As we celebrate National Engineers' Day on September 15th, we recognize the contributions of engineers and data scientists who make such missions possible. Data science has played a crucial role in processing and analyzing the vast amount of data collected during Chandrayaan 3's mission.

In summary, Chandrayaan 3's mission has yielded remarkable findings, including the presence of sulfur and oxygen on the Moon's South Pole. These discoveries open up exciting possibilities for future lunar exploration and the potential utilization of lunar resources.