Another day, another major update. The Indian Space Research Organisation is keeping no barriers between the world and its findings on the lunar surface.
The space agency took to X, formerly known as Twitter, on August 31 to reveal that the Instrument for the Lunar Seismic Activity (ILSA) payload on Chandrayaan-3’s Vikram lander has recorded the movements of the Pragyan Rover and other payloads.
ISRO also said that the instrument recorded an event which appears to be a “natural one” on AUgust 26, 2023. However, the source of this event remains unknown and is currently under investigation.
About the ILSA instrument
The ILSA instrument, whose detection has led to people asking if the event recorded by it was a quake, is the first Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS) technology-based instrument on the lunar surface, ISRO said in its tweet. It has been designed and released by LEOS, Bengaluru and its deployment mechanism was developed by URSC, Bengaluru.
In-situ Scientific Experiments
Talking about the in-situ experiments that ISRO has been conducting on the Moon, the agency said in a tweet that another instrument on the Pragyan Rover has detected the presence of sulphur in the region via another technique. This comes after the laser-induced Breakdown Spectroscope (LIBS) instrument unambiguously confirmed the presence of sulphur near the south pole.