New Delhi:

India’s lunar rover has confirmed the presence of sulfur at the Moon’s south pole, the country’s space agency said.

Last week, India became the first country to land a probe near the largely uncharted South Pole, and the fourth to land on the Moon.

“The Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) instrument aboard the Chandrayaan-3 rover has made the first-ever in-situ measurements on the elemental composition of the lunar surface near the south pole,” Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) said. Monday’s statement.

“These in-situ measurements clearly confirm the presence of sulfur in the region, something that was not possible by instruments mounted on the orbiter,” it said.

ISRO said, spectrographic analysis also confirmed the presence of aluminium, calcium, iron, chromium and titanium on the lunar surface, with additional measurements revealing the presence of manganese, silicon and oxygen.

The six-wheeled solar-powered rover Pragyan — “wisdom” in Sanskrit — will orbit the relatively uncharted South Pole and transmit images and scientific data during its two-week lifespan.

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Despite some setbacks, India is matching the achievements of other space programs at a fraction of its cost.

Four years earlier, the previous Indian lunar mission had failed during its final landing, which was seen as a major setback for the program at the time.

Chandrayaan-3 has attracted public attention since its launch in front of thousands of enthusiastic spectators nearly six weeks ago, and its successful landing on the Moon last week came just days after a Russian lander crashed in the same region.

In 2014, India became the first Asian nation to orbit Mars and plans to send one to the Sun in September.

ISRO is set to launch a three-day manned mission to Earth orbit by next year.

It is also planning a joint mission with Japan to send another probe to the Moon by 2025 and an orbital mission to Venus within the next two years.