BENGALURU: As scientists at the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) have stated that the south polar lunar surface, the Mons Mouton (MM), is ideal for landing and collecting samples under the Chandrayaan-4 mission (CH-4), the organisation’s chief said the landing locations are not yet finalised.
“The CH-4 project mission is approved, and we are in the design stage. A lot of deliberations over the landing sites are ongoing. We have identified some locations,” ISRO Chairman V Narayanan told TNIE. Deliberations and designing the mission based on the landing location are a part of the preparation, he added.
The ISRO scientists said that four locations are being deliberated, and they have been termed as MM-1, MM-3, MM-4 and MM-5. These locations were zeroed in based on the data obtained from the high-resolution camera.
These locations are also close to the Shiva Shakti Point, where the CH-3 mission’s lander Vikram and rover Pragyan had landed on August 26, 2023. This location is around 600Km from the lunar south pole, between the Manzinus C and Simpelius N craters. According to geologists, the location is also over 3.7 billion years old.
The CH-4 mission is scheduled for launch in 2028. Under this, the lander will also collect samples, lift off, and dock with the hovering satellite before returning to Earth. A robotic arm is also being designed that will protrude out of the lander. For the mission, two LVM3 launches are also being planned.
Former ISRO head and Moon Man of India, Mylswamy Annadurai, said the moon’s south pole is an ideal location because the terrain is more accessible and there is more information about the area compared to the rest of the surface. Also, a significant presence of water has been noted in the region. While choosing the location, it is important to note certain things like the safety of the landing point, knowledge of the landing location, the angle of the location, the presence of light and the timings, Annadurai said.
“The entire CH-4 mission will get over in 2-3days. The lunar mission has been designed in such a way that it can be stretched to 14 days on the surface. So, it is being debated and discussed if a different location can be explored, like the North Pole, which is less explored. But there are very few ideal locations for landing at the North Pole. We cannot afford any more failures or a repeat of CH-2. Thus, the question now that is being deliberated upon is safety or a newer location,” said a senior ISRO scientist.