Bengaluru. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has revealed its ambitious plan for the Chandrayaan-4 mission, which aims to bring back soil samples from the Moon’s surface to Earth. This will be India’s first lunar sample return mission and one of the most complex and challenging endeavours in the history of ISRO.
ISRO Chairman S Somanath said that the space agency was holding discussions ‘internally’ on the launch plan of Chandrayaan-4 and was developing a ‘novel design’ and ‘high-end technology’ for the mission. He said that the mission would involve four modules: a transfer module ™, a lander module (LM), an ascender module (AM), and a reentry module (RM). The TM would carry the LM and the AM to the lunar orbit, where the LM would separate and land on the Moon’s surface. The AM would then collect the soil samples and take off from the Moon, rendezvous with the TM in orbit, and transfer the samples to the RM. The RM would then return to Earth and land with the samples.
Somanath said that the mission was very challenging and required a lot of technological development and innovation. He said that the current rockets of ISRO were not fully capable of carrying out such a mission and that a new design was being worked out. He also said that the mission would require a lot of coordination and precision between the different modules and that the landing site would be near the Shiv Shakti Point, where Chandrayaan-3 had landed in August 2023.
The Chandrayaan-4 mission is expected to launch in or after 2028, according to Somanath. He said that the mission would be a great scientific achievement for India and would provide valuable information about the lunar geology and history. He also said that ISRO was planning to send more missions to the Moon in the future, such as Chandrayaan-5, 6, and 7.
The Chandrayaan-4 mission is a follow-up to the successful Chandrayaan-3 mission, which had achieved a soft landing on the Moon’s south pole and had deployed a rover named Pragyan. The Chandrayaan-3 mission had also demonstrated some technologies for the lunar sample return mission, such as the engine restart and the gravitational assist. The Chandrayaan-3 lander had fired its engines to lift off from the lunar surface and land at a nearby location, while the Chandrayaan-3 propulsion module had used the Moon’s gravity to return to Earth orbit. These demonstrations had shown the feasibility and reliability of the sample return mission.
ISRO has been a pioneer in lunar exploration and has made significant contributions to the scientific understanding of the Moon. The Chandrayaan-1 mission, launched in 2008, had discovered the presence of water molecules on the lunar surface. The Chandrayaan-2 mission, launched in 2019, had orbited the Moon and had attempted to land on the south pole, but had lost contact with the lander. The Chandrayaan-3 mission, launched in 2023, had successfully landed on the south pole and had explored the region with a rover. The Chandrayaan-4 mission, if successful, will make India the fourth country in the world to bring back lunar samples, after the United States, the Soviet Union, and China.
