Russia is gearing up to launch Luna-25 mission on August 11 nearly 50 years after the first lunar experiment. The Luna-25 will take off from the Vostochny Cosmodrome with a mission to explore Moon’s south pole. According to scientists, the Lunar south pole has significant quantities of ice that could support future manned missions.
Luna-25 Possible clash with Chandrayaan-3
The Luna-25 launch assumes importance because it comes just four weeks after India’s Chandrayaan-3 lunar mission. The Vikram lander aboard India’s Chandrayaan-3 is expected to soft land on the lunar’s south pole on August 23 at around 5.47 PM IST. We have to wait and see whether Russia will soft land on the moon ahead of India.
Commenting on the development, Russian space agency Roscosmos disclosed that there will be no disturbance and interference between the two Lunar missions since they have different planned landing areas. The size of the lunar south pole is related to the size of Australia and there is no possibility of interference, says a US-based Indian space enthusiast.
The Luna-25 measures 1.8 tons and carries 31 kg of scientific equipment. The lander will spend 5-7 days in lunar orbit before making a descent on the south pole of the Moon. We don’t have any confirmation as to when Luna-25 will soft land on the Moon.
Will it coincide with the landing of the Chandrayaan-3 lander? Will it collide with the Vikram lander? The main purpose of the Luna-25 is to collect rock samples from a depth of up to 15cm to test the presence of frozen water. While the Vikram lander will work for one Lunar Day (14 days), the Luna-25 is designed to work for one year.
Mission Delayed
The Luna-25 was originally planned for October 2021 but was delayed because of the COVID-19 pandemic and war with Ukraine. Moreover, the European Space Agency aborted the plans to integrate Pilot-D navigation cameras and refused to supply spares.
There are reports that Russia designed and developed the spares on its own without depending upon foreign countries. There are reports that Russia tied up with China for this mission. Russia has evacuated the residents of a nearby village before the Luna-25 lift-off. This is to prevent damage caused due to debris. The space agency also made arrangements to watch the launch and will also provide free breakfast to all residents of the locality.
The competition is excellent when it comes to the space sector. Let both Chandrayaan-3 and Luna-25 soft land on the Moon without any failures. It’s all about experiments.