Chandrayaan-3’s Pragyan Rover changed its path in search of a safe route on Moon

Mangalore Today News Network / News18

New Delhi, Aug 31, 2023: "A child is playfully frolicking in the yards of Chandamama", said Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Thursday as it shared a footage from the Moon captured by Vikram lander’s image camera of Pragyan rover rotating in search of a safe route.

 

A few days back ISRO team had commanded Pragyan rover to reroute to ensure its safety after it detected a big crater on Moon.

 

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐫𝐚𝐲𝐚𝐚𝐧-𝟑 𝐌𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐮𝐩𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐞:

The rover was rotated in search of a safe route. The rotation was captured by a Lander Imager Camera.

It feels as though a child is playfully frolicking in the yards of Chandamama, while the mother watches affectionately.… pic.twitter.com/PXxecmQEeG

— ISRO InSight (@ISROSight) August 31, 2023

“It feels as though a child is playfully frolicking in the yards of Chandamama, while the mother watches affectionately. Isn’t it?" ISRO said in a post on microblogging site X.

ISRO on Thursday also said that another instrument onboard the Pragyan rover of Chandrayaan-3 has confirmed the presence of Sulphur (S) on Moon, through another technique.

 

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.… pic.twitter.com/vDQmByWcSL

— ISRO (@isro) August 29, 2023

In a post on X, ISRO said the Alpha Particle X-ray Spectroscope (APXS) has detected sulphur, as well as other minor elements.

“This finding by Ch-3 compels scientists to develop fresh explanations for the source of Sulphur (S) in the area: intrinsic?, volcanic?, meteoritic?,……?." the post by ISRO on the microblogging site said.

ISRO also shared a video which showed an automated hinge mechanism rotating the 18-cm tall APXS, aligning the detector head to be approximately 5 cm in proximity to moon’s surface.

What Is APXS & What Does it Do

Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer (APXS) onboard rover ramped down to observe the lunar sample as seen in the video, which is captured by the lander imager.

APXS instrument is best suited for in-situ analysis of the elemental composition of soil and rocks on the surface of planetary bodies having little atmosphere, such as the Moon. It carries radioactive sources that emit alpha particles and X-rays onto the surface sample.

The atoms present in the sample in turn emit characteristic X-ray lines corresponding to the elements present. By measuring the energies and intensities of these characteristic X-rays, researchers can find the elements present and their abundances.