CHANDRAYAAN – 4

CHANDRAYAAN – 4

IN NEWS

• The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has approved Rs 2,104.06 crore for the Chandrayaan-4 mission.
• It will develop and demonstrate technologies to come back to Earth after successfully landing on the Moon and also collect lunar samples and analyse them on Earth.

KEY OBJECTIVES OF THE MISSION

• Achieving a safe and gentle landing on the lunar surface.
• Collecting and storing lunar samples.
• Lifting off from the Moon's surface.
• Docking and undocking in lunar orbit.
• Transferring samples between spacecraft modules.
• Returning the collected samples safely to Earth.

STRATEGY AND FACTORS

• Chandrayaan-4’s strategy is notably complex, involving five distinct components of the spacecraft:
  • Propulsion System: Responsible for transporting the lander and ascender stages to the Moon.
  • Descender: Designed for the lunar landing, carrying equipment for soil sampling.
  • Ascender: Detaches from the lander after collecting samples, then lifts off from the lunar surface.
  • Transfer Module: Receives samples from the Ascender and transports them to the Re-entry module.
  • Re-entry Module: Safely brings the lunar samples back to Earth, designed to withstand the re-entry into Earth's atmosphere.
• Chandrayaan-4 will utilize two different rockets:
  • Launch Vehicle Mark-3 (LMV-3): The heavy lifter will carry the propulsion, descender, and ascender modules.
  • Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV): The workhorse will transport the transfer and re-entry modules to their designated lunar orbits. These rockets will be launched on different dates, with the earliest launch not expected before 2028.

India’s lunar exploration missions

• Chandrayaan-1, India’s first mission to the Moon, was launched successfully on October 22, 2008 from Sriharikota to orbit the Moon. It played a crucial role in the discovery of water molecules on the Moon.
• Chandrayaan-2 mission was India’s first attempt to land on the lunar surface. It was launched on July 22, 2019. On September 7, Chandrayaan-2’s Vikram lander lost its contact with ISRO as it was only 2.1 km away from its designated landing spot on the Moon’s South Pole region. The lander Vikram made a hard landing on the lunar surface.
• Chandrayaan-3 was a follow-on mission to Chandrayaan-2 to demonstrate end-to-end capability in safe landing and roving on the lunar surface. 
• The Moon’s South Pole region was chosen for the exploration because the lunar South Pole remains much larger than that at the North Pole. 
• Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully launched Chandrayaan-3 on July 14. 
• Post its launch, Chandrayaan-3 entered into lunar orbit on August 5.
• ISRO scripted history on August 23, 2023 as Chandrayaan-3’s Lander Module touched down on the lunar surface.
• India was the fourth country to master the technology of soft-landing on the Moon after the US, China and erstwhile Soviet Union.