Chandrayaan-4 to bring Moon rocks: India’s Spadex mission to turn dream into reality

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It is a mission that underlines the country’s ambitious vision in space exploration. By embarking on this challenging mission, India is not just pushing the boundaries of its capabilities but is also contributing significantly to the global body of space exploration knowledge.

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has plans to retrieve soil and rock samples from the Moon’s surface in the Chandrayaan-4 mission. The mission is complex and depends on its ability to return lunar soil samples to Earth. 

The mission will involve the following steps: 

  • The lander module docks with the orbiting module in space 
  • The center module containing the samples returns 

The Spadex mission is the final key to the engineering puzzle. 

India’s Chandrayaan-1 was the first deep space mission. It played a crucial role in the discovery of water molecules on the Moon.

The Chandrayaan-4 mission will send four modules to the moon in two launches. The mission will involve the following steps: 

  • Collect samples: The transfer module will collect samples from the Ascend stage and transfer them to the re-entry module. 
  • Place samples in a canister: The samples will be placed in a canister. 
  • Return to Earth’s orbit: The module will dock with a spacecraft that will return to Earth’s orbit. 
  • Separate modules: As the two modules approach Earth, they will separate. 
  • Return to Earth: One part of the module will return to Earth. 

The Chandrayaan-4 mission is part of ISRO’s next phase in space exploration

The Chandrayaan-4 mission is expected to take place around 2030. The mission will have a key docking experiment in 2024. 

The Trans-Earth Injection (TEI) was performed on October 13, 2023. The mission then performed four Moon fly-bys before departing Moon’s sphere of influence on November 10. It reached the intended Earth orbit on November 22. 

The LSRM is planned for one lunar day (14 Earth days) and the expected launch date is in 2028.

The Lunar Polar Exploration Mission, or Chandrayaan 4, is a planned joint mission between the Indian Space Research Organisation and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. The mission will send an uncrewed lunar lander and rover to explore the Moon’s south pole region. The mission is scheduled to launch no earlier than 2026.

The Chandrayaan program has had three missions so far. The first mission, Chandrayaan-1, was launched on October 22, 2008. The mission’s achievements include: 

  • Discovering water molecules in the lunar soil 
  • Confirming that the Moon was once completely molten 
  • Recording images of the landing sites of the Apollo-11 and Apollo-15 spacecraft 
  • Providing high-resolution spectral data on the Moon’s mineralogy 

The Chandrayaan-2 mission’s first lander and rover crashed on the lunar surface. The Chandrayaan-3 mission made a soft landing on the Moon on September 22, 2023.

The Chandrayaan 4 rover will have an exploration area of 1 km x 1 km. This is larger than the Chandrayaan-3 rover’s exploration area of 500 meters x 500 meters. 

The rover will have the following specifications: 

  • Dimensions: 0.9 m × 0.75 m × 0.85 m 
  • Mass: 27 kg 
  • Power: 50 watts 
  • Travel speed: 1 cm/sec 
  • Mission duration: 14 Earth days 
  • Exploration area: 1 km x 1 km 

The rover will use the following instruments: 

  • Laser-induced breakdown spectroscope: Determines the elemental composition of lunar soil and rocks 
  • Alpha particle X-ray spectrometer: Scans the chemical composition of the lunar surface 
  • Stereoscopic 3D vision: Uses two cameras for navigation 

The rover will also collect soil samples from the Moon

The Chandrayaan-4 mission has two main objectives: 

  • Examine the lunar poles for water 
  • Determine how much water future colonies might need to carry from Earth 

The mission will help plan sustainable human activities on the Moon in the future. 

The Chandrayaan-4 mission will launch twice to deliver four modules to the Moon: 

  • Transfer module (TM): 
  • Lander module (LM): 
  • Ascender module (AM): 
  • Reentry Module (RM): 

The mission will begin by sending a lander and an ascender to gather samples from the Moon’s surface. The robotic arm mechanism in the Lander Module will collect samples and transfer them to the Ascender Module. The Ascender Module will then separate from the Lander Module and dock with the Transfer Module in lunar orbit. 

The mission will also bring back soil samples from the Moon.

Now, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is focusing on their next project, Chandrayaan-4. This mission aims to bring back soil samples from the Moon. This will mark India as a frontrunner in space exploration(full article source google)

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