New Delhi: Following the triumphant accomplishment of the Chandrayaan-3 mission, the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) is poised for its next lunar endeavor. Chandrayaan-4, the upcoming mission, promises to retrieve rocks and soil from the lunar surface for analysis within India, marking a significant milestone.
Officials from the Space Applications Centre have disclosed that Chandrayaan-4’s lunar sojourn will span a single lunar day. While this may seem fleeting, a lunar day equates to approximately 14 Earth days.
The duration of a lunar day is dictated by the moon’s rotational period, which amounts to roughly 29.5 Earth days. Throughout this cycle, the moon is bathed in sunlight, illuminating its surface.
During daylight hours on the moon, the sun-facing hemisphere experiences scorching temperatures, soaring up to 127 degrees Celsius. The absence of an atmosphere compounds these extremes, hindering heat distribution and insulation.
Officials underscored that the mission’s restricted timeframe is a consequence of the harsh lunar environment, characterized by drastic temperature differentials and prolonged periods of darkness during the lunar night, which pose formidable obstacles to sustained operations.
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It’s worth noting that Chandrayaan-3 was also engineered to endure a single lunar day, functioning flawlessly under illuminated conditions. However, once night fell, Vikram entered a dormant state, failing to reactivate.
This pioneering approach adopted by Isro underscores the mission’s audacious objectives.
At the heart of the mission lies the primary goal of procuring lunar samples for comprehensive scientific scrutiny upon their return to Earth. If successful, India will join an elite league comprising the United States, Russia, and China as the fourth nation to accomplish this remarkable feat.
Chandrayaan-4 is slated to touch down in close proximity to Chandrayaan-3’s Shiva Shakti Point near the lunar south pole, amplifying the mission’s strategic significance.
