Moon News
MOON DAILY
Russia launches mission to land on lunar south pole
Russia launches mission to land on lunar south pole
by Doug Cunningham
Washington DC (UPI) Aug 11, 2023

Russia launched the moon mission Luna-25 Friday to land a spacecraft on the rocky lunar south pole.

The launch kicked off Moscow's first moon mission in nearly 50 years and was part of an effort to eventually build a base on the moon.

The lunar south pole may have plentiful water in the form of ice in the shade of mountain ridges.

"The first goal is to find the water, to confirm that it is there ... to study its abundance," said Olga Zakutnyaya, from the Space Research Institute at the Russian Academy of Sciences in Moscow.

Luna-25 will take five days to travel to the moon and is scheduled to circle it for five to seven days before attempting a landing near Boguslawsky Crater in the south polar region.

According to Russian state news agency TASS the Luna-25 spacecraft will land on the moon Aug. 21.

Roscosmos Director General Yury Borisov said the goals of the mission "are of purely peaceful nature."

The spacecraft will be looking for water as well as studying the effects of space rays and electromagnetic emissions on the lunar surface.

Russia Space Research Institute scientist Maxim Litvak said Luna-25's most important task is to sit where no one has sat.

"Now everyone is aiming for the polar regions; this area is intriguing to everyone in the scientific community," Litvak said. "There are signs of ice in the soil of the Luna-25 landing area; this can be seen from data from orbit. In the equatorial regions where we landed earlier, this is not the case."

The United States is the only nation to land people on the moon's surface, but India launched its Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft July 14 and entered lunar orbit Aug. 6.

In May China announced plans to send its first manned mission to the moon by 2030.

Related Links
Mars News and Information at MarsDaily.com
Lunar Dreams and more

Subscribe Free To Our Daily Newsletters
Tweet

RELATED CONTENT
The following news reports may link to other Space Media Network websites.
MOON DAILY
Russia launches first Moon mission in nearly 50 years
Moscow (AFP) Aug 11, 2023
Russia launched its first probe to the Moon in almost 50 years on Friday, a mission designed to give fresh impetus to its long-struggling space sector, which has been also hit by sanctions since the conflict in Ukraine. The launch of the Luna-25 probe is Moscow's first lunar mission since 1976, when the USSR was a pioneer in the conquest of space. The rocket with the Luna-25 probe lifted off at 02:10 am Moscow time (2310 GMT Thursday) from the Vostochny Cosmodrome, according to live images broad ... read more

MOON DAILY
Organic molecules in Martian crater help to reconstruct planet's history

Cracks in ancient Martian mud surprise Curiosity team

Engineers put a Mars lander legs to the test

Blazing a path to the Gediz Vallis Ridge: Sols 3914-3915

MOON DAILY
Studying rivers from worlds away

Saturn's Rings shine in Webb's observations of Gas Giant

Key building block for life found at Saturn's moon Enceladus

New study puts a definitive age on Saturn's rings-they're really young

MOON DAILY
Looking for Light with New Horizons

All Eyes on the Ice Giants

Hundred-year storms? That's how long they last on Saturn.

James Webb Space Telescope sees Jupiter moons in a new light

MOON DAILY
Virgin Galactic rockets its first tourist passengers into space

Russian cosmonauts perform spacewalk to attach debris shields to space station

Advanced Space selected for two NASA SBIR Phase I Awards

NASA and Axiom Space join forces for fourth private mission in 2024

MOON DAILY
World Nano Foundation highlights nanotech's role in space materials science

MOON DAILY
Impulse Space secures $45M in Series A Funding Round

Pulsar Fusion forms partnership with University of Michigan for electric propulsion

China's commercial CERES-1 Y7 rocket launches 7 satellites

Rocket Lab inks new deal to launch HASTE mission from Virginia

MOON DAILY
China to launch "Innovation X Scientific Flight" program, applications open worldwide

Scientists reveal blueprint of China's lunar water-ice probe mission

Shenzhou 15 crew share memorable moments from Tiangong Station mission

China's Space Station Opens Doors to Global Scientific Community

MOON DAILY
De-orbiting PS4 stage in PSLV-C56 Mission

Damage control: WVU researchers aim for the sky to track lethal space debris

SwRI micropatch algorithm improves ground-to-spacecraft software update efficiency

Before the vacuum

Subscribe Free To Our Daily Newsletters




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us.