India’s ambitious Chandrayaan-2 orbiter has confirmed the presence of water molecules (H2o) and hydroxyl (OH) on the surface of the moon.
- The discovery was made by the orbiter’s imaging infrared spectrometer (IIRS).
- The findings were published in the journal Current Science.
- “The initial data analysis from IIRS clearly demonstrates the presence of widespread lunar hydration and unambiguous detection of OH and H2O signatures between 29 degrees north and 62 degrees north latitude,” the August 10 research article said.
- Plagioclase-rich rocks have been found to have higher OH or possibly H2O molecules when compared to the mare regions, which were found to have more dominance of OH at higher surface temperature.
About Chandrayaan-2 mission
- The Chandrayaan-2 mission was launched by Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) on July 2019. But Vikram lander on-board the mission crash-landed on the lunar surface just 2.1 km from its destination in September that year.
