On Friday, Russia launched its first probe to the Moon in nearly 50 years, a mission aimed to give new energy to the country’s space sector, which has been floundering for years and become isolated due to 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 space exploration.
According to live footage aired by the Russian space agency Roscosmos, the rocket carrying the Luna-25 probe lifted off from the Vostochny Cosmodrome around 02:10 am Moscow time (2310 GMT Thursday).
In five days, the spacecraft will reach lunar orbit.
It will then spend between three to seven days selecting the best landing site before landing in the lunar south pole area.
In an interview, senior Roscosmos official Alexander Blokhin stated, “For the first time in history, the lunar landing will take place on the lunar south pole. Until now, everyone has been landing in the equatorial zone”.
Roscosmos anticipates that the probe will land on the Moon around August 21, 2023.
According to the Russian space agency, the spacecraft, which will spend a year on the Moon, will be tasked with taking (samples) and analyzing the soil as well as conducting long-term scientific research.
The launch is the first mission in Russia’s new lunar programme, which begins at a time when Roscosmos is losing Western alliances due to the conflict with Ukraine.
“The mission is the first time that post-Soviet Russia has attempted to place a device on a celestial body”, said Vitali Iegorov, Russian space expert.
“The biggest question will be: can it land?” Iegorov said, emphasizing that this mission is of great importance for Russia.
President Vladimir Putin has committed to keeping Russia’s space programme going despite sanctions, citing the Soviet Union’s launch of the first man into space in 1961, during a period of rising East-West tensions.
“We are guided by the ambition of our ancestors to move forward, despite difficulties and external attempts to prevent us from doing so”, Putin declared last year at the Vostochny Cosmodrome.
The mission is important for the Russian space sector, which is struggling with financial issues, corruption scandals, and increased competition from the United States and China, as well as from private initiatives like billionaire Elon Musk’s SpaceX.
Meanwhile, India’s latest space project, Chandrayaan-3, entered lunar orbit in August, ahead of the country’s second attempted lunar landing later this month.
Also read: Will Chandrayaan-3 Outperform Chandrayaan-2?
