India’s ISRO and Japan’s JAXA are teaming up for the Lunar Polar Exploration Mission (LUPEX) launching in 2025. This joint endeavor aims to assess the feasibility of establishing a lunar base, explore water ice availability, and advance surface exploration technology. ISRO and JAXA are developing the rover and lander, incorporating instruments from NASA and ESA as well. The mission includes proposed instruments like PRATHIMA, aiming to detect lunar water-ice, and LEDEX, focused on studying charged dust particles in the polar region. LUPEX’s findings will illuminate the lunar polar area and aid future human Moon exploration.
Facts/Terms for UPSC Prelims
- Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA): Japan’s national space agency responsible for space research, technology development, and satellite launches. Partnered with ISRO for LUPEX.
- Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO): India’s space agency focused on space research, exploration, and satellite development. Collaborating with JAXA on the LUPEX mission.
- Rover and Lander: Autonomous vehicles designed for planetary exploration. In LUPEX, the rover and lander will be developed by JAXA and ISRO respectively, to study the Moon’s surface.
- Water Ice Availability: Investigating the presence of frozen water on the Moon’s polar regions. LUPEX aims to determine if this resource could be used for future lunar missions.
- Permittivity and Thermo-physical investigation for Moon’s Aquatic Scout (PRATHIMA): An instrument proposed by the Physical Research Laboratory (PRL), designed to detect and measure water-ice mixed with lunar soil. It’s part of LUPEX’s mission objectives.
- Lunar Electrostatic Dust Experiment (LEDEX): Another instrument proposed for LUPEX, focusing on detecting charged dust particles, studying levitation processes, and estimating particle size and flux in the polar region.
- Lunar Polar Region: The Moon’s polar areas where sunlight doesn’t reach due to the angle of its axis. LUPEX is exploring this region’s potential for future missions and human presence.
- Surface Exploration Technologies: Techniques and tools used to investigate the characteristics of a celestial body’s surface. LUPEX is testing and advancing these technologies for lunar exploration.
- NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration): United States’ space agency, contributing instruments to LUPEX. It’s known for its space research, satellite launches, and space exploration missions.
- European Space Agency (ESA): An intergovernmental organization dedicated to space exploration, with involvement in LUPEX through instrument contributions. It represents multiple European countries collaborating on space projects.
