The India Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is planning to explore the dark side of the moon and is in talks with the Japanese space agency JAXA, to launch a lander and rover combination. Anil Bhardwaj, Director of the Ahmedabad based Physical Research Laboratory, shared the information at the Akash Tattva conference in Dehradun.
The Indian space agency is already preparing to launch a mission to the Moon. The Chandrayaan-3 mission will launch in 2023, following the footsteps of the Chandrayaan-2 mission.
Meanwhile, ISRO wishes to explore the Moon’s Permanently Shadowed Regions (PSR), which experts believe are time capsules containing numerous secrets.
Bhardwaj stated that it was in talks with the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) about sending a lunar rover to explore the permanent shadow region.
According to preliminary plans, the lunar lander and rover will be built by ISRO and launched into orbit by a Japanese rocket, with a planned landing near the moon’s south pole.
‘The rover will then travel to the permanent shadow region of the moon which never sees sunlight,’ Bhardwaj was quoted as saying by PTI. He said the exploration of the region was interesting as anything that has remained in the PSR zone was akin to staying in deep freeze for times immemorial.
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