‘Moon a perfect place…’: Astrophysicist with Vadodara roots explores ISRO partnership on possibility of sending payload on Chandrayaan-5

Jani, Director of Vanderbilt Lunar Labs Initiative and Professor of Physics and Astronomy, Electrical and Computer Engineering and Communication of Science & Technology, at Vanderbilt University, US, is exploring a partnership with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), Ahmedabad, to explore the possibility of sending a payload on India’s upcoming mission of Chandrayaan-5 to the moon. Jani says the moon is “naturally quieter than the Earth” and suited for gravitational-wave experiments.

Speaking to The Indian Express on his current visit to his hometown, Jani said, “Gravitational waves have a spectrum… some sounds we simply cannot hear on earth as it is humming from its own seismic activities. The moon offers a spiritual quietness and has a vacuum right on its surface… It serves as a perfect place to conduct astrophysics experiments as it does not have atmosphere, wind, seismic activity and, more importantly, humans to create noise…”

He further said, “Soft landing on the moon is also very hard to achieve with the weight of a lander but Chandrayaan has been able to do it now… ISRO is very unique because it has a very well-established model of indigenous lander-launchers put together. So, the cost of putting something on the moon is significantly lower (than other celestial bodies).”

Dr Jani says we were finally very close to solving why the universe created the galaxies. “By structure, we mean galaxies… Black holes began the seeds of galaxies and are clearly the relics of something from early on… When galaxies collide, they make a particular humming sound, which we discovered in 2023… We still do not know why the Universe is the way it is. Why did it create galaxies? We have to hear what was happening when it was born… It feels we are finally very close to solving that; through the moon,” he adds.

“The next Chandrayaan-4 mission is very complex with more payloads on it… The rovers can travel much farther… We want to send a payload on the next Chandrayaan-5 mission, which will be a prototype for the LILA mission. We will be able to test certain technologies. The only one other (country) apart from the US and India that are doing lunar missions is Japan. Chandrayaan-5 will be a collaboration between India and Japan. We are countries with lunar ambitions…” says Jani. “There is a global race but nations with similar values for democratically-led science, who are also part of the Artemis accord, can come together to answer civilisational questions and have a framework for the countries to build together. Building projects on the moon is not for a lab. It is a project for humanity…”

Jani says that the first phase of the LILA project will be sending a payload to the moon, eventually aspiring to send a manned mission. “Imagine, two landers a few kilometers from each other and communicating with each other through a laser… LILA is an international consortium that I lead… each partner brings a very specific expertise.

ISRO, right now, has this very unique understanding of landing complexity and the lander in itself… Several universities from the US and Europe, NASA centres, private space companies who have demonstrated landers on the moon… Our team brings decades of expertise in gravitational waves and have sent experiments to space, moon and even Mars,” he adds.

Stating that his journey as an astrophysicist began in the era of Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, Jani expresses hope that the thriving community of space enthusiasts in India will receive the needed push through the curriculum in the New Education Policy. Jani says, “Every space mission helps in increasing respect for science among the masses and creating excitement in younger audiences to pursue this path. Like the computer science education of the 1980s, space education is currently at the nascent stage in India but you have early career researchers, who are interested in the science of gravitational waves.. Here is the opportunity to build on that momentum with the Chandrayaan…”

Jani is currently working on setting up a pilot programme, Space Shala, at his family-run Shreyas School in Vadodara to fuel the fascination of young minds for the cosmos. “Space Shala is a way to formalise Space Education… one does not need physical space but a targeted approach. Asking children trivial things like what will be your weight on the moon or Mars… As computer education has evolved since the early 1980s, the same kind of effort is needed to build space education. We have to be on board before the buzz starts… India has enough engineers and space education should be pushed to celebrate the legacy of Vikram Sarabhai and Dr APJ Abdul Kalam,” says Jani, who comes from the family of renowned academician Rajnikant Jani.

ISRO Ahmedabad Director Dr Nilesh Desai told The Indian Express that a proposal put forth by Jani for the LILA project is under consideration. “We have gone through the proposal… ISRO is launching many Chandrayaan missions, with which this experiment can be carried out… The proposal is under consideration. Once cleared, we will sign the MoU and be able to begin the actual work on the proposed project.”

Desai said that as part of the National Space Day celebrations on Saturday, ISRO Ahmedabad conducted an outreach in seven states and union territories, including mobile exhibitions on wheels. “We interacted with close to 70,000 students in Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Delhi, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, and Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu…”

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