After nearly 50 years Russia launches first moon mission

After nearly 50 years, Russia has launched its first moon mission. The spacecraft is intended for landing on the south pole of the the moon.

The Luna 25 was launched on the 10th August on a Soyuz rocket from eastern Russia. Russia is racing to reach the the moon’s southern pole before India’s Chandrayaan-3 which was launched earlier.

So far, only the USA, Russia and China have successfully landed on the moon’s surface. India’s first attempt in 2019 was unsuccessful.

Russia intends to attempt landing Luna 25 on the 21 August, several hundreds of kilometers from the southern pole of the moon, a date earlier than the 23 August, when India’s Chandrayaan-3 will attempt landing in the same location.

Several countries including the USA, Japan and China have over the years failed to land in the Southern pole. Russia intends to be the first, a move that many believe is politically motivated.

Luna 25 aims to search for ice water from the rocks in the moon’s south pole. If such ice water is found in addition to other collected data, more information about the moon and the entire solar system could be obtained.

Many believe that obtaining ice water from the moon’s surface is an uphill task as the crater’s high temperature could make it impossible for ice water to be collected.

According to a Nature article, Luna 25 will also take imagery of the moon’s surface to study the interaction between the solar wind and the moon.