ISRO IDENTIFIES SITE FOR CHANDRAYAAN 4 LANDER
What is the News?
- ISRO has identified a landing site for the upcoming Chandrayaan-4 Mission.
- The mission is expected to launch around 2028.
- It will be India’s first lunar sample-return mission.
- The Union Government has approved the mission.
- It is considered India’s most complex lunar mission so far.
BACKGROUND: SUCCESS OF CHANDRAYAAN 3
Before Chandrayaan-4, India achieved major success with Chandrayaan-3.
- Chandrayaan-3 was launched on 14 July 2023 from Sriharikota.
- It was launched using LVM3 (Launch Vehicle Mark-III).
- The mission aimed to demonstrate:
- Safe soft landing
- Rover movement (roving) on the Moon
- Conducting scientific experiments
- On 23 August 2023, the Vikram Lander and Pragyan Rover successfully soft-landed near the Lunar South Pole.
WHY WAS THIS HISTORIC?
- India became the first country to soft-land near the Lunar South Pole.
- India became the fourth country to achieve soft landing on the Moon (after USA, Russia, and China).
- It strengthened India’s position in the global space exploration elite club.
ABOUT LVM3 ROCKET
- LVM3 is ISRO’s heavy-lift launch vehicle.
- It is capable of placing payloads into Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO).
- It is a three-stage rocket:
- Two solid strap boosters
- One liquid core stage
- For Chandrayaan-3, LVM3 placed the spacecraft into an Elliptic Parking Orbit (170 × 36,500 km).
WHAT IS CHANDRAYAAN 4?
- Chandrayaan-4 is a lunar sample-return mission.
- Its main goal is to:
- Land on the Moon
- Collect lunar soil/rock samples
- Bring them safely back to Earth
- This is more complex than Chandrayaan-3 because:
- It requires landing + collecting samples + lift-off from Moon + return to Earth.
WHERE WILL CHANDRAYAAN 4 LAND?
- ISRO has selected a site in the South Polar region of the Moon.
- The specific area is called Mons Mouton (MM).
- 4 possible landing sites were studied:
- MM-1
- MM-3
- MM-4
- MM-5
- After analysis, MM-4 was selected.
WHY WAS MM4 SELECTED?
- ISRO used data from the Orbiter High Resolution Camera (OHRC).
- Key features of MM-4:
- A 1 km × 1 km area with the least hazards
- Mean slope of about 5 degrees (relatively flat surface)
- Mean height of 5,334 metres
- Maximum number of hazard-free grids (24 m × 24 m size)
- These conditions make it suitable for safe soft landing.
MODULES OF CHANDRAYAAN 4
Chandrayaan-4 consists of:
- Propulsion Module (PM)
- Descender Module (DM)
- Ascender Module (AM)
- Transfer Module (TM)
- Re-entry Module (RM)
LANDING PROCESS
- The Descender Module (DM) and Ascender Module (AM) will land together.
- This is called the AM + DM stack.
- The landing will use advanced navigation, guidance and control systems.
After sample collection:
- The Ascender Module will lift off from the Moon.
- The samples will return to Earth using the Re-entry Module.
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN CHANDRAYAAN 3 & 4
Chandrayaan-3
- Focused on safe landing and rover movement
- No sample return
- Proved India’s soft-landing capability
Chandrayaan-4
- Will perform sample return
- Involves landing + lift-off + Earth re-entry
- Technically much more complex
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