Russia is preparing to launch a lunar mission on August 11 after a hiatus of nearly 50 years in an effort to win the race to be the first country to land a rover on the Moon’s south pole, which may contain water that may support a future human presence there.
With the July 14 launch of Chandrayaan-3, India holds the advantage.
According to the Indian Space Research Organization (Isro), a soft landing is scheduled for approximately August 23.
“There is room for everyone.”
According to the Russian space agency Roscosmos, the Luna-25 spacecraft would travel to the moon in five days, spend five to seven days in lunar orbit, and then land at one of three potential locations near the pole,implies it could match or narrowly beat Chandrayaan-3 to the moon’s surface.Rough terrain makes a landing there difficult, but the south pole is a prized destination because scientists believe it may hold significant quantities of ice that could be used to extract fuel and oxygen, as well as for drinking water.
Roscosmos said the two missions would not get in each other’s way because they have different landing areas planned.
“There is no danger that they interfere with each other or collide. There is enough space for everyone on the moon,” it said.
Different mission protocols
Chandrayaan-3 has been designed to run experiments for two weeks, while Luna-25 will work on the moon for a year.
With a mass of 1.8 tons and carrying 31 kg (68 pounds) of scientific equipment, Luna-25 will use a scoop to take rock samples from a depth of up to 15 cm (6 inches) to test for the presence of frozen water that could support human life.
The launch, originally planned for October 2021, got delayed for nearly two years. The European Space Agency had planned to test its Pilot-D navigation camera by attaching it to Luna-25, but broke off its ties to the project after Russia invaded Ukraine in February last year.
