A former Nasa scientist decodes the significance of the discoveries made by the lunar lander and rover.
Last month, India made history when it became the first country to land a lunar mission near the Moon's south pole.
What is also significant, Ms Mitra says, is that it has been able to stay safe and avoid falling into the craters that dot the Moon's little-explored south pole region. But the fact that it has managed to navigate safely around two craters shows that it's able to communicate really quickly with the command centre, Ms Mitra adds.The first set of data collected from the lunar topsoil and up to the depth of 10cm below the surface from a probe onboard the Vikram lander showed a sharp difference in temperatures just above and below the surface.
"This could mean it could be used to build space colonies to keep heat and cold and radiation out. This would make it a natural insulator for habitat," she says.A clue into the Moon's evolution "It also indicates the presence of water ice on the lunar surface and since sulphur is a good fertiliser, it's good news as it can help grow plants if there's habitat on the Moon."The Vikram lander carries an instrument that measures vibrations emanating from its own studies and experiments as well as those from the rover and its activities.
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