ISRO Targets Chandrayaan-4 Moon Sample Return by 2028
Buoyed by the landmark Chandrayaan-3 demonstrating India’s end-to-end unmanned lunar landing capability, ISRO now envisions the complex Chandrayaan-4 mission in 2028 to collect Moon rock and dust specimens and achieve maiden sample return to advance future colonization viability knowledge.
If achieved, Chandrayaan-4 will make India only the 4th nation after the US, Russia and China to retrieve samples from the lunar surface nearly 5 decades after Apollo missions. The mission intends landing a rover near unexplored south pole areas.
354 kg Rover to Access Tricky Terrain
Dr Nilesh Desai of ISRO’s Space Applications Centre revealed Chandrayaan-4 will deploy a 350 kg, 6-wheeled rover for traversing larger lunar distances than prior, accessing trickier terrains like hazardous crater rim areas remaining unexplored thus far.
The lander must autonomously execute a delicate touchdown even as the rover gathers samples scientifically valuable for insights on resources like lunar water supporting potential human settlements. Ensuring safe return of payload back to Earth involves major complexity though.
First Indian mission to bring back lunar samples Critical for future Moon colonization viability
If executing the complex dual launch and rendezvous required for sample retrieval succeeds, Chandrayaan-4 will open up new vistas aiding India’s larger interplanetary exploration goals in the next decade and beyond.
