Article Posted on : - Sep 14, 2009

A file photo of Chandrayaan-1.

BANGALORE (BNS): Scientists have retrieved data from India’s maiden moon mission Chandrayaan-1 and started decoding them to gain interesting insights into various aspects of the Moon.

Scientists from US space agency NASA, European Space Agency (ESA) and Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) have joined hands in decoding the data sent by Chandrayaan-1, according to a report in The Times of India.

The X-ray Solar Monitor (XSM) – the payload sent by ESA, has tracked the Sun’s x-ray emissions which are particularly high during solar flairs.
The data provided by it will help scientists study in detail about two dozen solar flairs that cause huge explosions on Sun’s atmosphere.

“If we better understand the physics of solar flares, we can protect ourselves better from these effects”, ESA Chandrayaan-1 project scientist Detlef Koschny was quoted as saying by the daily.

For a better understanding of the phenomenon, scientists will also make a comparative study of similar observations of the sun in different optical wavelengths made by ESA’s Soho spacecraft with those obtained from the XSM, the report said.

Meanwhile, ESA has said that its payload C1XS, an imaging x-ray spectrometer, developed along with UK’s Rutherford Appleton laboratory and ISRO, has identified calcium on the lunar surface.

“There are indications of iron and titanium samples as well,” Koschny said.