2023-08-11 01:55:00
Moscow 08/11/2023 02:27 CEST
Roscosmos launches the Luna-25 probe, which should enter the satellite’s orbit in 4-5 days
Russia launched today the Luna-25 probe with the mission of being the first country to land on the South Pole of the satellite from Earth, where he hopes to find water in the form of ice. The automatic station, which took off at 2310 GMT from the Vostochny Cosmodrome, which is located in the Russian Far East, will reach lunar orbit within 4-5 days.
The probe, which is equipped with solar panels, was launched by the Soyuz-2.1b carrier rocket and powered by the Fregat block at the scheduled time. After nine minutes and a few seconds, Luna-25 entered a suborbital trajectory following passing the first three stages and finally separating from its carrier rocket. According to the calculations of the Lavochkin Center, manufacturer of the device, it will separate from the propellant block when it reaches the flight path towards the Moon one hour and 20 minutes following launch.
The Russian Luna-25 is the successor to the Soviet Luna-24, the third spacecraft to collect samples from the lunar surface in August 1976. The mission had suffered continuous delays since 2019, also contributed to by the decision by the European Space Agency last year to suspend its cooperation with the Russian lunar program due to the war in Ukraine.
Once the lunar orbit is reached, the Russian spacecraft will still take several days – between three and seven – to maneuver to find the correct orbit and land north of the Boguslawski crater in an area with rugged relief and adverse conditions, according to the space agency. Russian, Roscomos.
The Russian probe should touch the surface of the Moon around August 21, that is, two days before the Indian probe Chandrayaan-2, which was launched on July 14. The aim of the Russian mission is to develop moon landing technology, take surface samples and study the upper layer of the lunar regolith, from its relief to its composition and solidity, and also analyze its exosphere.
Russia hopes not only to be the first space power to land on the celestial body’s South Pole, but also to be the first to find water in the Moon. To do this, the spacecraft has a LAZMA mass spectrometer to study the chemical composition of the lunar surface, an ARIES neutral and charged particle detector, a PML lunar dust detector, and an LIS infrared spectrometer, among other instruments. In addition, it will have a camera system to film the surface of the terrestrial satellite during the moon landing and record lunar panoramas.
Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on April 12 – on the occasion of the 62nd anniversary of Yuri Gagarin’s flight – his decision to urgently resume the lunar program, which aims to use the earth’s satellite as a platform to explore the solar system. .
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