Russia Prepares For Launch Of Lunar Mission In August, As India's Chandrayaan-3 Makes Its Journey

Russia's long-awaited and delayed robotic re-introduction to moon exploration, Luna-25, has arrived at its launch site.

The spacecraft was transported to the Vostochny Cosmodrome on 10 July and is now in its take-off location.

NPO Lavochkina, the Russian aerospace company responsible for building the moon lander, announced that the creation of the Luna-25 spacecraft has been completed.

The Luna-25 mission aims to achieve a significant milestone by being the first in the world to perform a soft landing on the moon's surface in the south pole region.

Once landed, the spacecraft will conduct contact studies of the lunar soil to determine the presence of ice at the landing site. This mission holds great importance for lunar exploration.

According to Russian state news agency TASS, the Luna-25 mission is scheduled to launch on 11 August. This launch date signifies a major step forward in Russia's space exploration efforts and is eagerly anticipated by scientists and space enthusiasts around the world.

The successful execution of this mission will pave the way for future lunar exploration endeavors.

Luna-25 utilises a completely Russian element base and incorporates the latest advancements in space instrumentation.

The primary objective of the mission, as stated by Lavochkin, is to develop the fundamental technologies required for a soft landing in the circum-polar region and to conduct contact studies of the moon's south pole.

In contrast to previous Soviet lunar explorers, the Luna-25 spacecraft is significantly different from its predecessors in terms of landing.

While the Soviet lunar stations performed landings in the equatorial zone, this new station will achieve a soft landing in the circum-polar region, which is characterised by challenging terrain.

Luna-25 is set to become the first domestic apparatus in modern Russia to journey to the moon. The probe is specifically aimed at the south pole of the moon, with a touchdown location near the Boguslavsky crater. Additionally, a "reserve area" has been identified southwest of the Manzini crater.

The Luna-25 mission aims to study the surface layer and lunar exosphere of the moon's south pole. It also aims to develop technologies for landing and soil sampling.

The probe is expected to have an active life on the moon's surface for at least one Earth year.

This Russian moon mission is a continuation of the former Soviet Union's lunar exploration activities. The last mission, Luna-24, successfully brought back around 170 gram of lunar soil to Earth in 1976.

Originally, the European Space Agency (ESA) was supposed to provide the European Pilot-D camera for Luna-25's precise landing on the moon.

However, due to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, ESA had to cancel the camera cooperation, along with several other collaborative space projects.