Shillong, August 11: Russia has embarked on its Luna 25 lander mission, marking a significant return to the Moon after nearly five decades.
The Luna-25 spacecraft was launched atop a Soyuz-2.1b rocket from Russia’s Vostochny launch facility at 2:10 a.m. Moscow time, as reported by the TASS news agency.
This mission comes after Russia’s previous lunar endeavor, Luna-24, which was launched in 1976 during the era of the Soviet Union. Luna-24 successfully delivered approximately 170 grams of lunar samples to Earth.
Anticipated to reach the Moon’s orbit on August 16, Luna-25 is set to touch down on August 21. Prior to landing in the Boguslawsky crater region, the spacecraft will spend a duration of three to seven days at an altitude of about 100 km above the lunar surface.
As per IANS, the primary objective of Luna-25 is to refine soft landing technology. Should this endeavor prove successful, the mission could achieve a historic milestone by becoming the first spacecraft to land near the Moon’s South Pole. Maxim Litvak, a chief scientist for the mission at Russia’s Space Research Institute (IKI), expressed the significance of Luna-25’s mission, highlighting its uniqueness in exploring an area that has not been previously accessed.
Of particular interest is the potential presence of ice in the landing area, an indication gleaned from orbital data. This distinctive landing site contrasts with previous equatorial regions where landings occurred.
Coincidentally, Luna-25’s touchdown is anticipated in proximity and timing to India’s Chandrayaan 3 probe, which entered lunar orbit on August 6, having launched on July 14.
Parallel to these efforts, NASA, the United States’ space agency, is planning to establish bases near the Moon’s South Pole by the end of the 2020s under its Artemis program. This initiative aims to explore natural resources, including water, and study the lunar surface’s response to space radiation and electromagnetic emissions.
Equipped with multiple cameras, Luna-25 will capture the landing process through timelapse footage and provide a high dynamic range (HDR) wide-angle image of the Moon’s landscape. The cameras will be activated during scheduled periods and upon receiving signals from Earth.
Yury Borisov, Director General of the Russian space agency Roscosmos, outlined the timeline for upcoming lunar missions, including Luna-26 in 2027, Luna-27 in 2028, and Luna-28 in 2030 or later.
Following these endeavors, Russia’s space corporation is poised to usher in the next phase of its lunar exploration program.