BENGALURU: ISRO Chairman K Sivan implied that besides being a precursor to India’s manned mission to the Moon, Chandrayaan 2 has a big role to play in providing data to National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) for their ambitious Artemis mission.
The Artemis will return astronauts to the Moon by 2024, and prepare the way for human missions to Mars after creating a “sustainable human presence on the Moon”, explained notes by NASA.
Sivan said the Chandrayaan 2 will definitely give NASA input to sent man to moon. However, he hinted that right now, seeking details about what those inputs would be too early. The mission will have the orbiter studying the moon for a year, while the lander and rover will understand the moon in 14 earth days (one lunar day). Owing to the various characteristics of the South Pole, due to more water, minerals, among others, Sivan said, “NASA has announced their project of having a human habitat near south pole. This (Chandrayaan 2) will give input and feedback for the future programme.”
Refering to a tweet by NASA, Sivan said “This (Chandrayaan 2) will be a main input for them.”
On July 22, NASA had tweeted “Congrats to @ISRO on the launch of Chandrayaan 2, a mission to study the Moon. We’re proud to support your mission comms using our Deep Space Network and look
forward to what you learn about the lunar South pole where we will send astronauts on our
#Artemis mission in a few years.”