After the success of Chandrayaan-3, India will take a big step towards its moon mission. Recently, the Government of India approved the Chandrayaan-4 mission. At the same time, the National Space Commission has approved ISRO’s fifth moon mission, the Lunar Polar Exploration Mission (also known as Lupex). Lupex is a joint mission, but it is also part of ISRO’s moon mission.
According to reports, ISRO will complete this mission in collaboration with Japan’s space agency JAXA. The Lupex mission is the most important part of India’s space ambition. Under this, humans will be brought back safely to the Moon. In some media reports, ISRO has been quoted as saying that the biggest feature of this mission is its duration. According to the information, this mission of sending humans to the Moon can be a maximum of 100 days.
Can Get Approval From The Cabinet Soon
In a conversation, ISRO Chairman S Somnath told a private newspaper that Lupex would soon be presented before the cabinet for approval. He said discussions and technical planning are required at many levels before starting work on such a joint mission. Know five big things related to India’s Lupex mission and when it will be sent.
5 Big Things Related To Lupex Mission
This is a joint mission. India and Japan’s space agencies, ISRO and JAXA, will jointly complete it. It will land on the South Pole of the Moon, aiming to discover water and valuable resources on the surface. According to ISRO and JAXA, Lupex will analyze the quantity and distribution of water on the Moon’s surface.
This joint mission of India and Japan will search the dark part of the Moon. A part of the Moon’s surface is not visible from the front in any condition; it is also called the Dark Side of the Moon. During the mission, drilling and in-situ experiments will be done on the surface of the dark part of the Moon.
According to media reports, this mission will be launched from a Japanese rocket. ISRO will develop the lander system, and the rover will be built by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). The Lupex rover can weigh up to 350 kg, which will be 13 times heavier than Chandrayaan-3’s Pragyan rover. The Pragyan rover sent under Chandrayaan-3 weighed just 26 kg.
The ISRO-developed lander system will have advanced scientific instruments, such as ground-penetrating radar, mid-infrared spectrometer, and Raman spectrometer. There will also be an Aquatic Scott payload for permeative and thermophysical investigation of the Moon. Sensors from Japan will also be installed, which will help in a comprehensive and in-depth study of the Moon’s surface.
According to the information, despite the coronavirus pandemic, work is going on rapidly in India and Japan regarding the Lupex mission. All preparations are expected to be completed to launch this mission in the coming years. The cost of this mission and the launch date have not been disclosed yet. It is believed that after the approval from the Union Cabinet, work will be done more rapidly on it.
Chandrayaan-4 Will Be Launched Before Lupex
Before Lupex, India will launch Chandrayaan-4 in 2027, about 3 years later. This mission will bring great success to India in space. Actually, through Chandrayaan-3, ISRO sent lander-rovers, which landed on the surface of the Moon and collected samples there, analyzed them themselves and sent the related data to ISRO, but Chandrayaan-4 will be such a mission that will collect samples from the surface of the Moon and come back to earth. After the success of this mission, India can send a human mission to the Moon by 2040. The Government of India has passed a budget of about 2100 crores for ISRO’s Chandrayaan-4.
