Russia launched its first lunar mission in nearly half a century on Friday, hoping to be the first to achieve a soft landing on the moon's south pole.
Publish dateSaturday 12 August 2023 - 13:38
Story Code : 274681
Afghan Voice Agency (AVA) - Monitoring: 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 from the Vostochny Cosmodrome, according to live images broadcast by the Russian space agency Roscosmos.
Roscosmos expects the probe to enter a “100-kilometre high lunar orbit” on August 16 and land on the Moon north of the Boguslawsky crater on August 21, the agency said in a statement.
“For the first time in history, the 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 spacecraft, which will remain on the Moon for a year, will be tasked with “taking (samples) and analysing the soil” as well as “conducting long-term scientific research”, the Russian space agency said.
The launch is the first mission in Russia’s new lunar programme, which gets underway at a time when Roscosmos is being deprived of its partnerships with the West amid the conflict with Ukraine. Instead Russia is turning to China.
The rocket with the Luna-25 probe lifted off from the Vostochny Cosmodrome, according to live images broadcast by the Russian space agency Roscosmos.
Roscosmos expects the probe to enter a “100-kilometre high lunar orbit” on August 16 and land on the Moon north of the Boguslawsky crater on August 21, the agency said in a statement.
“For the first time in history, the 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 spacecraft, which will remain on the Moon for a year, will be tasked with “taking (samples) and analysing the soil” as well as “conducting long-term scientific research”, the Russian space agency said.
The launch is the first mission in Russia’s new lunar programme, which gets underway at a time when Roscosmos is being deprived of its partnerships with the West amid the conflict with Ukraine. Instead Russia is turning to China.
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