Chandrayaan-3: Data may open up 'array of possibilities'
Shubhadeep Choudhury
New Delhi, August 22
“Presence of water in the lunar south pole is confirmed. Chandrayaan-3 may shed light on the volume and extent of water that can be found on the moon. This can open up a whole range of possibilities,” Jayant Murthy, senior professor at the Bengaluru-based Indian Institute of Astrophysics, said while talking to The Tribune today.
May find frozen water
Many craters in lunar south pole aren’t exposed to sunlight. These may have frozen water.
Jayant Murthy, prof, Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Bengaluru
On whether the payloads aboard “Vikram” lander and “Pragyan” rover would be able significantly help research with regard to the amount of water present in the south pole, Murthy said this could be revealed only after studying the data sent by instruments from the lunar surface. While orbiters from several countries have explored the region around the moon’s south pole, no country as yet has been able to land a spacecraft in the area. “Photographs of great clarity of the region are available,” said Murty. However, physical study of the area is yet to be done. “The lunar south pole has many craters that are not exposed to sunlight. These may have frozen water,” he said.
Murty said he was also waiting eagerly for ISRO to share data sent by the payload aboard the propulsion module, which continues to orbit moon after its separation from Vikram lander. The propulsion module carries the Spectro-polarimetry of Habitable Planet Earth payload to study the spectral and polarimetric measurements of earth from the lunar orbit.
