Chandrayaan-3 findings show moon is habitable

Subject: Science and Technology

Section: Space technology

Context:

Ever since the Vikram lander touched down on the lunar surface, there has been a steady flow of data and information from the instruments onboard the lander and the rover.

Habitability of Moon:

The information indicates that the moon is more habitable than thought earlier.
The lander probed 10cm into the lunar surface and measured temperature there, and found that the lunar temperature is -10 degree C just 8 cm below the surface.
Scientists have known that the lunar subsurface is cold. Vikram has only provided proof that the lunar topsoil is a super-insulator.
Significance of this discovery:
- The moon, which has no atmosphere, is directly exposed to the sun.
- It gets extremely hot (123o C) during daytime and incredibly cold during night (-233o C).
- The lunar topsoil soil can be used as a super insulator for building a habitat there.
- It is possible to set up MW-scale solar or nuclear power plants and use the energy to “thermally process” construction material (with lunar regolith), making large, permanent human presence on the moon more easily realizable.

Presence of Oxygen:

The Pragyan rover has helped confirm the presence of oxygen in the lunar soil. The ‘Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy’ (LIBS) instrument on the rover, has shown the presence of sulphur, calcium and many metals such as iron, chromium, titanium, manganese and aluminium and oxygen.
It’s significance:
- The presence of oxygen in the soil, in the form of ilmenite (FeTiO3), means you have an alternative to ice for oxygen production.
- Ilmenite can be reduced to make oxygen for breathing.
The findings from the lander and the rover go to strengthen a growing branch of science called In-situ resource utilisation (ISRU), alternatively known as ‘space resource utilisation’ (SRU).