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The Chandrayaan-2 orbiter of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has detected large amounts of sodium for the first time on the Moon. This work has been done by the X-ray spectrometer ‘Class’ installed in the orbiter. This success has opened the way to find out the exact amount of sodium on the moon.
thin layer of sodium on the moon
This research by ISRO, published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, states that the class spectrometer has been able to detect a thin layer of sodium on the moon due to its high sensitivity and good performance. It has been built at ISRO’s UR Rao Satellite Center in Bangalore.
Researchers say that the sodium layer may be weakly attached to the particles of the Moon’s land. If this sodium is part of the Moon’s minerals, then these sodium atoms can be more easily ejected from the surface by the solar wind or ultraviolet radiation.
ISRO made the first attempt to land on the lunar surface through Chandrayaan-2, but it failed.
Interesting to find sodium on the moon
The surface of the Moon where sodium is found is called the exosphere. This region starts from the surface of the moon and extends for thousands of kilometers. This discovery of Chandrayaan-2 will help in examining the relationship and coordination between the Moon and the exosphere. The presence of sodium in the Moon’s light atmosphere is one interesting aspect that has fueled scientists’ interest in the element.
search done before
Before Chandrayaan-2, the X-ray fluorescence spectrometer of Chandrayaan-1 also predicted the possibility of sodium on the lunar surface. Along with this, some data was also found in the study of samples from the US space agency NASA’s Apollo mission, the Soviet Union’s Luna program and China’s Chang E mission. But, large amount of sodium has been discovered by Chandrayaan-2 only.
What is Chandrayaan-2 mission?
Chandrayaan-2 is actually a new version of Chandrayaan-1 mission. It was flagged off from Sriharikota range on 22 July 2019. It consists of Orbiter, Lander (Vikram) and Rover (Pragyan). Chandrayaan-1 had only the orbiter, which revolved in the orbit of the Moon. On 6 September 2019, ISRO made the first attempt of landing on the lunar surface through Chandrayaan-2. In this mission, everything went well till the end, but contact with the lander was lost just 500 meters before landing.