Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
In an effort to be the first country to carry out a soft landing on the lunar south pole, which is thought to be home to sought-after pockets of water ice, Friday saw the launch of Russia’s first lunar landing mission in 47 years.
At 2:11a.m. on Friday Moscow time (1111 GMT on Thursday), a Soyuz 2.1v rocket carrying the Luna-25 spacecraft launched from the Vostochny cosmodrome, 3,450 miles (5,550 km) east of Moscow. Almost an hour later, the rocket’s upper stage sent the lander out of Earth’s orbit and towards the moon.
On August 21, the lander is anticipated to arrive on the moon, according to Yuri Borisov, Russia’s space chief, who spoke with Interfax on Friday. Earlier estimates from the Russian space agency Roscosmos placed the landing on August 23.
The Luna-25 spacecraft, which is about the size of a small car, will attempt to function for a year on the moon’s south pole, where NASA and other space agency researchers have just lately found signs of water ice in the region’s shadowed craters.
The Kremlin claims that the Western sanctions adopted in response to the Ukraine crisis, many of which targeted Moscow’s aerospace industry, have not been successful in making the Russian economy unviable, thus much depends on the Luna-25 mission.
The lunar mission, which Russia has been preparing for for years, would also test the country’s growing space independence after its February 2022 invasion of Ukraine cut off almost all of Moscow’s contacts with the West, with the exception of its crucial role on the International Space Station.
Read Next: NASA’s Artemis II Crew Meets Their Moon-bound Vehicle
Exploring the Moon’s South Pole
In order to test its Pilot-D guidance camera, the European Space Agency intended to connect it to Luna-25. But, after Russia invaded Ukraine, the ESA cut its ties to the project.
The moon has recently been probed by major powers including the United States, China, India, Japan, and the European Union. Both an Israeli mission and a Japanese lunar landing attempt failed in 2018.
No nation has successfully landed a soft craft at the south pole. In 2019, the Indian mission Chandrayaan-2 was unsuccessful.
Landing there is challenging due to the rough terrain, but the reward of finding water ice might be historic because it can be used to extract fuel and oxygen as well as provide drinking water.
According to Roscosmos, it would take five days to get to the moon. The spacecraft will spend 5-7 days in lunar orbit before descending to one of three prospective landing sites close to the pole; based on this schedule, it may reach the moon’s surface on par with or somewhat earlier than its Indian equivalent.
In order to test for the presence of frozen water, the 1.8-ton Luna-25 will use a scoop to gather rock samples from a depth of up to 15 cm (6 inches). Moreover, 31 kg (68 pounds) of scientific equipment is carried by Luna-25.
Read Next: Webb Space Telescope’s Breakthrough: Unparalleled Image of the Ring Nebula
Source: Reuters
