India's lunar rover finds 1st evidence of sulfur near the moon's south pole

The six-wheeled Pragyan rover just notched another milestone while exploring the lunar south pole.

India's moon rover, Chandrayaan-3, has for the first time detected sulfur near the moon's south pole, the country's space agency announced earlier this week. The sought-after element is usually found near volcanoes on Earth, so its appearance on the moon hints at our satellite's volcanic history as well as past atmospheric conditions, scientists say.The detection comes less than a week after India's spacecraft aced its touchdown about 70 degrees from the lunar south pole.

A recent analysis into the 382 kilograms worth of moon rocks brought home by the Apollo missions in early 1970s did find sulfur, but those samples were picked up from near the moon's equator. This is the first time the element has also been detected near the south pole, which is a region of immense interest for many crewed and uncrewed missions alike, largely due to its apparent reservoir of frozen water.

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