Chennai, Apr 24 (UNI) The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)

organised a national meet on the potential aspects of lunar sample science

in the context of the forthcoming Chandrayaan-4 mission planned for launch

in year 2027-2028 time frame, which aims at returning lunar samples back

to the Earth.

This national meet was attended by the lunar science community engaged

in analysing meteorite samples, terrestrial analogs, lunar soil simulants, as

well as the scientists who are keen to constraint the remote sensing

observations of the lunar surface with ground-truth experiments with the

returned-samples.

The participants comprised about 50 scientists; almost 50 per cent of them

represented 12 research and academic institutes (outside the Department

of Space), including private academic institute, across the country, ISRO

said in an update on Thursday.

In the opening remarks, M. Ganesh Pillai, Scientific Secretary, ISRO, emphasised

on the significance of this national meet in the context of the Chandrayaan-4 mission,

fitting in the overall road map of India’s lunar exploration programme as a major

milestone, which would eventually lead to India’s first human-spaceflight mission

to the Moon by the year 2040.

Dr. Tirtha Pratim Das, Director of the Science Programme Office, ISRO Headquarters,

elaborated on the context of the national meet, and the roles of the Indian lunar

researchers towards a science-driven, well-planned lunar sample-return mission.

Dr. Anil Bhardwaj, Director, Physical Research Laboratory (PRL), Ahmedabad appraised

the scientific community about the legacy of PRL for the analysis of the lunar, as well as

meteorite samples.

There were deliberations from the teams from the U R Rao Satellite Centre (URSC),

ISRO on the plans for the lunar sample curation and analysis facilities, as well as on

the Chandrayaan-4 mission.

The detailed deliberations, made by scientists and academicians from several national

institutions and academia, addressed the aspects of outstanding problems in lunar

science, scientifically rewarding potential lunar landing sites, as well as the advanced

analysis of the returned-samples.

UNI GV 1315