R. Rao Satellite Centre (URSC) has created a ‘simulated surface’ by fetching soil from Salem, Tamil Nadu for testing 'Chandrayaan-2’s lander and rover on earth.
It is an ISRO lead centre for building satellites and developing associated satellite technologies.
It was established in 1972 at Bengaluru.
Why Salem’s soil?
ISRO needed a soil which resembles lunar soil in texture, lunar temperatures, low gravity and the same amount of sunlight as on the moon.
The ‘anorthosite’ rocks from Sithampoondi and Kunnamalai villages in Salem were crushed and used to simulate lunar soil.