An image taken from the digital camera of the lunar touchdown spacecraft Luna-25 reveals the Zeeman crater positioned on the far facet of the moon, August 17, 2023.
| Photo Credit: Reuters
Russia’s lunar spacecraft entered the moon’s orbit on Wednesday, a significant step in the direction of the nation’s ambition of being the primary to land on the moon’s south pole within the seek for frozen water.
The Luna-25 entered the moon’s orbit at 11:57 a.m. (0857 GMT), Russia’s house company Roskosmos mentioned.
Luna-25 will circle the moon, the earth’s solely pure satellite tv for pc, for round 5 days, then change course for a smooth touchdown on the lunar south pole deliberate for Aug. 21.
India’s Chandrayaan-3 entered the moon’s orbit earlier this month forward of a deliberate landing on the south pole of the moon later this month.
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The Luna-25, which is roughly the scale of a small automobile, will goal to function for a yr on the south pole, the place scientists at NASA and different house companies in recent times have detected traces of frozen water within the craters.
The presence of water on the moon has implications for main house powers, probably permitting longer human sojourns on the planet that may allow the mining of lunar sources.
No Russian spacecraft has entered lunar orbit since Luna-24, the Soviet Union’s 1976 moon mission, in keeping with Anatoly Zak, the creator and writer of www.RussianSpaceWeb.com which tracks Russian house programmes.
“Entering lunar orbit is absolutely critical for the success of this project,” Zak informed Reuters. “This is a first for the post-Soviet period.”
“Some are calling this the second lunar race so it is very important for Russia to resume this programme. Luna-25 is not just one mission – it is part of a much broader Russian strategy that stretches 10 years into the future.”
