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12-08-2023
MOSCOW: Russia has launched its first mission to the moon in nearly 50 years, pitting it in a space race with India, which is also aiming to land a lunar craft this month.
The launch of the Luna-25 craft to the moon on Friday was Russia’s first since 1976 when it was part of the Soviet Union and was conducted without assistance from the European Space Agency, which ended cooperation with Russia after its invasion of Ukraine.
The launch from the Vostochny Cosmodrome in the Far East took place at 2:10am Moscow time Friday (23:10 GMT Thursday), according to live images broadcast by the Russian space agency Roscosmos.
The four-legged lander weighs approximately 800kg (1,750 pounds) and is due to reach lunar orbit in five days.
It will then spend between three and seven days choosing the right spot before landing in the lunar South Pole area.
“For the first time in history, the lunar landing will take place on the lunar south pole. Until now, everyone has been landing in the equatorial zone,” senior Roscosmos official Alexander Blokhin said in a recent interview.
The lander is expected to reach the moon’s surface on August 23, around the same time as an Indian craft, which was launched on July 14.
Both countries’ modules are headed for the lunar South Pole, an area where no spacecraft has landed smoothly. Only three governments have managed successful moon landings; the Soviet Union, the United States and China.
Roscosmos said the module would operate for one year and “take and analyze soil samples and conduct long-term scientific research” on lunar surface material and the atmosphere.
It said it wants to show Russia “is a state capable of delivering a payload to the moon”, and “ensure Russia’s guaranteed access to the moon’s surface”.
Sanctions imposed on Russia after it invaded Ukraine make it harder for it to access Western technology, impacting its space program. The Luna-25 was initially meant to carry a small moon rover, but that idea was abandoned to reduce the weight of the craft for improved reliability, analysts said.
For Russia, a successful mission to the Moon would show that despite its turbulent past and the Western sanctions, which have “really impacted Russia’s space development”, the country is capable of conducting major space missions, Hawkins said. (Int’l Monitoring Desk)
