Title: Russia’s Luna-25 Lunar Lander Begins Mission to Find Ice on the Moon
Byline: Reuters
Date: August 13, 2023
Moscow – Russia’s Luna-25 mission, which aims to be the first to find ice on the moon, has embarked on its journey after successfully switching on its scientific instruments, according to Russia’s space agency Roscosmos. The lunar lander, roughly the size of a small car, is racing against India’s Chandrayaan-3 lunar lander to complete a soft landing on the moon’s south pole.
The Luna-25 mission, the first of its kind since 1976, blasted off from the Vostochny cosmodrome in Russia’s Far East on August 11, 2023. The space craft, propelled by a Soyuz-2.1b rocket booster with a Fregat upper stage, was boosted out of Earth’s orbit an hour after launch.
As the Luna-25 hurtles towards the moon, approximately 384,400 km (238,855 miles) from Earth, its scientific instruments have been switched on, and the first data on the flight has been obtained, reported Roscosmos. The data is now being processed by the project’s scientific team.
“The energy balance is positive, and all systems of the automatic station are working properly, with stable communication,” stated Roscosmos. Luna-25 is expected to operate for a year on the moon’s south pole, where scientists have recently detected traces of water ice in shadowed craters.
The success of the Luna-25 mission holds great significance for Russia, as it could demonstrate the country’s capabilities despite the Western sanctions imposed over the Ukraine war. However, any failure would raise questions about Russia’s space ambitions, especially after the intense space competition between the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War.
It is worth noting that the Soviet Union’s Luna-2 mission in 1959 was the first to reach the moon’s surface, and the Luna-9 mission in 1966 was the first to make a soft landing. U.S. astronaut Neil Armstrong famously became the first person to walk on the moon in 1969.
After the United States achieved the historic moon landing, the Soviet Union shifted its focus to exploring Mars. Since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, Russia has not sent scientific probes beyond Earth’s orbit.
Russia has announced plans for further lunar missions and is considering a joint crewed mission with China, as well as the establishment of a lunar base.
Contact:
Guy Faulconbridge, Moscow bureau chief
Email: [email protected]
Phone: +447825218698
Note: This article adheres to the Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.