India’s space agency ISRO is making an attempt to land a spacecraft on the moon’s south pole. If successful, this mission will promote India’s aspirations for space exploration and increase our understanding of lunar water ice, which may be one of the moon’s most precious resources.
What is known about the existence of frozen water on the moon and why space agencies and private businesses view it as a key to a moon colony, lunar mining, and prospective expeditions to Mars are described here.
India’s Chandrayaan-3 moon mission commenced on July 14, 2023. The only three nations to have accomplished soft landings on the moon are the Soviet Union, the United States, and China.
How was water discovered on the Moon?
Before the first Apollo landing in the 1960s, scientists had hypothesised that water might be present on the moon. The late 1960s and early 1970s samples that the Apollo crews sent back for study seemed to be dry.
When Brown University researchers used new equipment to explore those lunar samples in 2008, they discovered hydrogen inside microscopic beads of volcanic glass. A NASA instrument mounted on the Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft of the Indian Space Research Organisation found water on the moon’s surface in 2009.
Another NASA probe that hit the south pole that year discovered aqueous ice beneath the moon’s surface. The 1998 Lunar Prospector mission, a previous NASA mission, had discovered proof that the south pole’s shadowed craters had the highest quantity of water ice.
India’s Chandrayaan-3 moon mission commenced on July 14, 2023.
Why is water on the Moon a significant resource?
Because they might preserve evidence of lunar volcanoes, material that comets and asteroids brought to Earth, and the creation of oceans, pockets of ancient water ice are of interest to scientists.
If there is enough water ice, it might serve as a source of drinking water for moon exploration and serve to keep equipment cool.
Additionally, it might be broken down to create oxygen for breathing and hydrogen for propulsion, assisting jorneys to Mars or lunar mining.
Any country cannot assert its possession of the moon, according to the 1967 United Nations Outer Space Treaty. There is no clause that would halt business activities.
The Artemis Accords, a US-led initiative to establish a set of guidelines for moon exploration and the use of its resources, have 27 signatories. Russia and China haven’t signed.
The eagerly anticipated Chandrayaan-3 moon mission will lift off on July 14, 2023. The only three nations to have accomplished soft landings on the moon are the Soviet Union, the United States, and China.
Why is landing on the Moon’s South Pole difficult?
There have been unsuccessful moon landing attempts previously. The Luna-25 spacecraft from Russia was supposed to touch down on the south pole this week, but on approach it spun out of control and crashed on Sunday.
The south pole is full of craters and deep pits and lies far from the equatorial region that was the objective of earlier missions, including the crewed Apollo landings.
According to the space agency, ISRO’s Chandrayaan-3 mission is on schedule to make an attempt at a landing on Wednesday. In 2019, an earlier Indian mission that tried to land safely close to the place Chandrayaan-3 was aiming for failed.
Missions to the Moon’s south pole are scheduled by both China and the United States.
