In just two weeks, the Indian mission has made some surprising discoveries about the composition of the Moon
The Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) Moon lander Vikram and robotic rover Pragyan have now been told to go to sleep. ISRO hopes to awaken them at lunar dawn on 22 September.
But in their two-week sojourn around the Moon’s south pole, they provided insights that have planetary scientists abuzz. Here are some of the first remarkable findings.
A thin soup of ions and electrons swirls near the lunar pole A probe onboard Vikram made the first measurements of the density and temperature of Moon’s ionosphere. ISRO reports a “relatively sparse” mix of ions and electrons in the 100-kilometre-thick layer of electrically charged plasma that surrounds the Moon’s surface near the south pole.
Temperature variations with depth Understanding lunar soil, including its temperature and conductivity, will be important when considering settlement on the Moon. The soil “is an important in situ resource for construction”, says Anil Bhardwaj, director of ISRO’s Physical Research Laboratory in Ahmedabad.
A suspected moonquake SRO scientists suspect a small moonquake or the impact of a tiny meteorite.
Sulfur confirmed Testing by the rover unambiguously confirms the presence of sulfur in the lunar surface near the south pole, ISRO reports. It also found aluminium, silicon, calcium and iron, among other elements.