ISRO instrument aboard Chadrayaan-2 detects water molecules on Moon

ISRO’s
homegrown instrument aboard Chandrayaan-2 has made a pathbreaking discovery — it
has detected the presence of water and hydroxyl molecules on the Moon with the
ability of distinguishing between the two.

The new research
is part of a paper published in the fortnightly journal ‘Current Science’. The
research strongly indicates that the presence of water and hydroxyl could
correlate with mineralogy and latitudinal location, according to a report in
the Indian Express.

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The
instrument that made this discovery — the Imaging Infrared Spectrometer (IIRS)
— is being hailed as critical for future planetary explorations.

The IIRS is
an imaging instrument that collects information from the electromagnetic
spectrum for understanding the mineral composition of the lunar surface with
each element possessing a ‘spectral signature’ unique to itself.

The
instrument was developed at the Space Applications Centre (SAC) of ISRO based
out of Ahmedabad.

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Chandrayaan-1,
India’s first Moon mission, also carried a similar instrument called Moon Mineralogy
Mapper or M3. M3 was capable of detecting water, although the range of
detection was between 0.4 to 3 micrometre.

The Moon
Mineralogy Mapper was developed by the National Aeronautics Space
Administration (NASA). In September 2009, M3 instrument’s data showed detection
of absorption features on the polar regions of the surface of the Moon “usually
linked to hydroxyl and/or water-bearing molecules.”

But the
wavelength range of M3 was not adequate to determine the full shape and maximum
absorption point within the 3-micrometre region making it difficult to
differentiate between hydroxyl and water.

Prakash
Chauhan, director at IIRS Dehradun, said that since the spectral coverage of M3
was limited to 3 micrometre, distinction between water and hydroxyl was not
possible.

ISRO’s
instrument IIRS boasts of higher wavelength range that allows more accurate
results. IIRS is a landmark for India in indigenous space technology.