Russia has initiated its first lunar mission in 47 years by launching an unmanned spacecraft towards the Moon’s south pole. A successful landing in the region will mark the first of its kind and could ignite significant activity from various countries and private firms.
Simeon Barber, a planetary scientist at the Open University in Milton Keynes, UK, highlights the scientific importance of this lunar region. He mentions “This is a region where we anticipate higher accumulation of water ice. As we move closer to the pole, the temperature drops and the possibility for water ice ascend.”.
The Luna 25 mission was launched on the evening of 10 August at 11.11 p.m. UTC via a Soyuz rocket. The rocket took off from Vostochny Cosmodrome situated in eastern Russia. This event marks the diminishing reliance of Russia on Kazakhstan, which has heretofore served as the home for its principal launch site, the Baikonur Cosmodrome.
The spacecraft is estimated to reach a 100-kilometre lunar orbit within approximately five days’ time. It is set to attempt a landing on the moon on 21 August, targeting the Boguslawsky crater, a 100-kilometre-wide spot located about 500 kilometres from the Moon’s south pole.
The aforementioned mission is just the beginning of numerous forthcoming voyages planned for the lunar south pole. On 23 August, India’s Chandrayaan-3 mission will attempt a landing in this region.
In addition, China’s plans to launch a rover on the South Pole of the Moon are on the blueprint for 2026. Similarly, NASA’s Artemis program, aiming at putting humans back on the lunar surface after Apollo 17 in 1972, is also setting its sight on the south pole. Under the Artemis program’s mantle, several U.S. companies are preparing to make successful landings in the same region in the upcoming years.
According to Roger Launius, NASA’s former chief historian, Luna 25 presents a chance to outpace competitors and gain some favorable attention.
Astrological data from the 1990s indicates that substantial amounts of water ice may exist at the Moon’s poles, which could prove useful for future human missions. As Nico Dettman, Lunar Exploration Group Leader at the European Space Agency, explains, this water ice can potentially be converted into hydrogen and oxygen. This could, in turn, provide drinking water, breathable air, or even rocket fuel. Such resources present the Moon as a potential “launch pad” for further explorations in the Solar System.
Yuri Borisov, the head of Russia’s space agency Roscosmos, declared the Luna 25 mission to be “high risk”, with the chances of success set at 70%. On August 8, NASA’s chief, Senator Bill Nelson, wished them success, observing that any competition to send humans back to the Moon is primarily between the United States and China.
Taking twenty years to complete, Luna 25, a fixed lander weighing approximately 1,750 kilograms, signifies Russia’s inaugural attempt to land on the Moon since the Luna 24 mission back in 1976. This earlier mission had successfully returned Moon rocks to Earth. However, Luna 25 is described as “fairly modest” by Scott Pace, the former executive secretary of the US National Space Council. This is due to the fact that it only carries a mere 30 kilograms of scientific instruments.
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