2023-08-11 07:03:20
The Soyuz rocket carrying the nearly 800-kilogram probe took off at the scheduled time at 2:10 a.m. Moscow time from the Vostotchny cosmodrome in the Far East, carried by a Soyuz rocket, according to images broadcast live by the space agency. Russian Roscosmos.
The craft rose in a plume of smoke and flame under a gray sky. It must reach lunar orbit in five days, on which it will then spend between three and seven days to choose the right place before landing in the lunar south pole area.
According to a source within Roscosmos contacted by AFP, the agency plans a landing of the probe around August 21.
Rare phenomenon in the sky: the “double full moon” observable during the month of August
“For the first time in history the moon landing will be carried out on the lunar south pole. Until now, everyone was landing in the equatorial zone”, welcomed a senior official of Roscosmos, Alexandre Blokhine, in a recent interview with the official Rossiïskaïa Gazeta newspaper.
The probe, which will have to stay on the Moon for a year, will have the mission of “taking (samples) and analyzing the soil”, as well as “carrying out long-term scientific research”, further indicated the space agency.
This launch is the first mission of the new Russian lunar program, which starts when Roscosmos is deprived of its partnerships with the West.
Russia launched its first probe to the moon in nearly 50 years on Friday, a mission intended to give new impetus to its space sector, which has been struggling for years and isolated due to the conflict in Ukraine. ©Roscosmos State Space Corporation(Photo by Handout / Russian Space Agency Roscosmos / AFP)(Photo by Handout / Russian Space Agency Roscosmos / AFP) (Roscosmos State Space Corporation via AP) ©Roscosmos State Space Corporation
1691737849
#Russia #launches #probe #Moon #years #PHOTOS