India's successful unmanned lunar landing has added momentum to a water exploration mission with Japan that is scheduled to start from fiscal 2025, as a new race to the moon heats up, Report informs referring to Nikkei.
Countries are stepping up lunar exploration in hopes of tapping its resources. The feat makes India the fourth country to land on the moon, joining the elite club of space exploration that includes the US, Russia and China.
India's Chandrayaan 3 is the first lunar probe to land near the moon's south pole. The craft landed on Wednesday at about 70 degrees south latitude, or about 595 kilometers from the south pole. Equipped with a rover and devices for surveying seismic activity and geological conditions, it will conduct explorations for about two weeks.
If the presence of sufficient water resources on the moon is confirmed, they could be used not only for drinking and producing oxygen for astronauts but also for rocket fuel. Procuring fuel on the moon and launching from there, where gravity is low, rather than launching large fuel-laden rockets from Earth, would ease efforts to explore Mars and asteroids.
The moon is also rich in ilmenite, which yields iron and titanium that can be used in building materials and rockets. For the next generation of lunar exploration, both the US and China envision procuring resources locally and having astronauts stay at lunar bases full-time.