India has recently become the fourth country to land a rover on the moon. Launched on July 14, 2023, the Chandrayaan 3 landed on the south pole of the Moon on August 23, 2023, and plans to conduct research for 14 days. This mission has been monumental for many different reasons. While the mission was originally set to find evidence of ice near the north pole of the moon, it actually discovered hydrogen by the south pole. Because of this important discovery, it could possibly be used, when combined with oxygen, as drinking water for astronauts. This mission has ended up identifying many other useful elements using the rover’s laser induced spectroscopy as well. The list of elements that were detected include iron, calcium, chromium, titanium, manganese, and silicon. Out of this list, sulfur is also a very important asset, as it can be used in the production of rocket fuel. Originally, the Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft actually crashed as soon as it left the Earth, making the Chandrayaan-3’s success an amazing accomplishment for India.
Cites
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chandrayaan-3
https://apnews.com/article/indias-moon-mission-finds-chemicals-a0f5b3c91fd71c2a3ae573d4048a5d05
