Chandrayaan-3 confirms sulphur on the moon

An instrument onboard the Chandrayaan-3 mission's rover 'Pragyan' has confirmed the presence of sulphur in the south pole lunar soil. This was done using an Alpha Particle X-ray Spectroscope (APXS), which has detected sulphur as well as other 'minor' elements on the moon, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) recently confirmed in social media.

"This finding by Chandrayaan-3 compels scientists to develop fresh explanations for the source of sulphur in the area: intrinsic? volcanic? meteoritic?" read the post. ISRO scientists say there could be three possible sources of sulphur in the lunar soil—due to inherent deposits in the soil or due to volcanic eruption or meteor exploding on the moon.

This is the second time that the rover found the presence of earth elements on the moon. A few days ago, it had reported the presence of elements like titanium, ice, oxygen, aluminium, and manganese in the lunar soil, said the ISRO.

In its second attempt in four years, India successfully placed its Chandrayaan-3 lander and rover on the moon for the first time on August 23.