Why in the News?
India and Japan have begun the preliminary design phase of the Chandrayaan-5 mission, also known as LUPEX (Lunar Polar Exploration).
Back2Basics: Legacy of Chandrayaan Missions
|
About Chandrayaan-5/LUPEX Mission:
- It is a collaborative mission between ISRO and JAXA.
- Approval: Cabinet approval for the mission was granted on March 10, 2025.
- Launch: It will carry a 6.5-tonne payload and launch aboard Japan’s H3 rocket in 2027–28.
- Collaboration: The lander is being developed by ISRO and the 350-kg rover by JAXA.
- Duration: The mission is expected to last 100 days, with a possible extension of one year.
- Mission Goals and Objectives:
-
- Explore water and regolith in the lunar south pole’s Permanently Shadowed Regions (PSRs).
- Drill into the Moon’s surface, analyse soil samples, and perform in-situ experiments.
- Assess water content, quality, and analyse surface volatiles using advanced instrumentation.
- Exploration of the far side of the Moon.
Scientific Collaboration and Instruments:
- A total of 7 scientific instruments will be onboard the mission.
- ISRO’s Contribution: Development of the lander; creation of one sensor in a major four-sensor instrument.
- JAXA’s Contribution: Development of the rover and three sensors in the same instrument; Rover is designed to climb 25° inclines and operate on a complex battery charging protocol.
- ESA (European Space Agency): Developing a mass spectrometer.
- NASA: Contributing neutron spectrometers.
| [UPSC 2009] In the context of space technology, what is Bhuvan, recently in the news?
Options: (a) A mini satellite launched by ISRO for promoting the distance education in India (b) The name given to the next Moon Impact Probe, for Chandrayaan-II (c) A geoportal of ISRO with 3D imaging capabilities of India* (d) A space telescope developed by India |
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024
