Nebula Nerd India’s Ambitious Chandrayaan-4 Mission Set for 2028
In a significant step towards advancing lunar exploration, India has announced plans to launch the Chandrayaan-4 mission in 2028. This mission, a collaborative effort with Japan, aims to bring back samples from the moon’s south pole, a region known for its water-ice deposits.
The Chandrayaan-4 mission will deploy both a lander and a rover designed to collect approximately 6.6 pounds of lunar samples. This endeavor will focus on exploring a water-ice-rich area, providing valuable insights into the availability of water resources on the moon, which could be crucial for future lunar missions and long-term habitation.
The mission’s architecture is complex, involving multiple spacecraft modules that will require two separate launches. One of the key components of the mission will be a space docking experiment. This experiment is designed to practice in-orbit docking, a critical maneuver for the success of the mission and future space exploration activities.
By undertaking this ambitious mission, India, in collaboration with Japan, aims to further our understanding of the moon’s resources and develop technologies that could benefit future space exploration.
