‘Luna 25’: Russia sends mission to moon after 47 years
Russia has launched the Luna-25 mission involving landing its spacecraft on the south pole of the Moon. This is Russia’s first mission to the moon in 47 years. Earlier, when it was the Soviet Union, the Luna 24 mission landed on the moon on 18 August 1976. It is an unmanned spacecraft that took off from the Vostochny Cosmodrome in the Amur Oblast of Russia. Luna 25 was launched at 8.10 a.m. local time via a Soyuz-2 Fregat rocket.
India’s Chandrayaan-3 mission was launched in mid-July before Luna 25. Both are expected to land on the Moon’s south pole on August 23. The world is watching this space race to see who will land on the south pole of the moon. Luna 25 is also called Luna Globe Lander. It will spend a year studying the composition of the lunar polar soils and the plasma and dust present in the very thin lunar exosphere or the Moon’s thin atmosphere.
What is the specialty of Luna 25
This lander of Russia is four legged. It will have a landing rocket, propellant tank, solar panels, computer and a robotic arm to dig the lunar soil. Roscosmos and the European Space Agency initially planned to work together on Luna 25 as well as Luna 26, Luna 27 and the Mars rover. But this partnership between the two ended after Russia’s war with Ukraine.
What is different in Chandrayaan-3
India’s Chandrayaan was launched on 14 July. It is also planned to land on the South Pole of the Moon on 23 August. This week it has entered the Moon’s orbit. Talking about the specialty of this mission, it has a lander, rover and a propulsion module. Luna 25 does not have a rover. Even if Russia’s mission lands before India, India will become the first country to run a rover on the South Pole. However, where Luna 25 is a one-year mission, India’s Chandrayaan will remain in the lunar orbit for only 14 days.
