ISRO Patent for Artificial Moon Soil:
ISRO aka Indian Space Research Organization has recently granted a patent for Artificial Moon Soil in India. The patent was applied way back in 2014 and after a long prosecution, the patent was approved on 18th May 2020. The organization was seeking this patent for a long time for research purposes.
The title of the patent is “method of manufacturing artificial moon”. The patent was acquired by ISRO to test their outer space rovers such as Vikram Lander and Pragyaan Rover as part of their mission Chandrayaan-2.
Since there is a difference in the surface and soil properties, scientists need an environment similar to the moon for testing their machines to ensure a safe landing. After taking consideration from many geologists ISRO finally decided to pick rocks called “anorthosite” found in the Kunnamalai village of Tamil Nadu which said to have similar properties of moon soil.
