ISRO Developing Technology to Extend Lunar Lander Lifespan to 200 Days India’s space agency, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), is advancing technology to enable lunar landers to survive on the Moon for up to 200 days, a major leap from the 14-day operational window achieved by the Chandrayaan-3 mission. ISRO Chairman V. Narayanan revealed this progress during a discussion in Bengaluru, emphasizing the collaboration between ISRO and the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) to address the critical challenge of enduring the Moon’s extreme environmental conditions. The focus of this research is on developing advanced artificial heating systems to protect spacecraft components during the prolonged lunar night, when temperatures plummet to dangerously low levels. The Chandrayaan-3 mission, which successfully landed India’s Vikram lander near the Moon’s south pole on August 23, 2023, marked a historic milestone as the first nation to achieve a soft landing in that region. However, the Vikram lander’s operational lifespan was limited to a single lunar day—approximately 14 Earth days—due to its reliance on solar energy. Once the lunar night began, the absence of sunlight caused temperatures to drop to extreme lows, rendering the lander’s electronic systems inoperable. This limitation highlighted the need for innovative solutions to sustain lunar missions beyond the brief solar-powered window. Narayanan explained that ISRO and the DAE are working on artificial heating technologies that could extend the operational lifespan of future landers to between 100 and 200 days. This advancement would allow spacecraft to endure multiple lunar day-night cycles, significantly enhancing India’s capabilities for sustained lunar exploration.#isro #v_narayanan #department_of_atomic_energy #chandrayaan_3 #vikram_lander
