Russia’s first lunar lander Luna-25 in nearly 47 years, was launched on Friday from a Soyuz rocket. The Russian space agency Roscosmos released the first pictures sent by the spacecraft on Monday. Russia’s last Moon mission was Luna-24, launched in 1976 when the country was part of the Soviet Union. The Luna-24 mission returned with about 170 grams of lunar sample. Luna-25 took these new pictures on Sunday, August 13, and the space agency released them on Monday.
Roscosmos said in a statement that the images show Luna-25’s instruments with the Earth and Moon in the background. You can also see the mission’s insignia in one of the pictures. According to a Telegram update by Roscosmos, the pictures were taken about 3,10,000 km from our planet. Despite being launched almost a month after the launch of Chandrayaan-3, the Russian lander may touch the Moon’s south pole before the Indian mission.
#Roscosmos shared the first images sent back by the #Luna25 mission on its way to the Moon. pic.twitter.com/49zjK8VN0j
— IE Science (@iexpressscience) August 15, 2023
Luna-25 Will Land On August 21-22
Luna-25 will likely enter the Moon’s orbit on August 16 and attempt a soft landing on August 21 or 22. On the other hand, Chandrayaan-3 can make a soft landing on the Moon on August 23. The Russian mission is on a straight path to the Moon as its payload is lighter and has more fuel storage. Compared to the Chandrayaan-3 mission, Luna-25 weighs only 1,750 kg.
Luna-25 Is Lighter Than Chandrayaan
The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) sends Chandrayaan-3 towards the Moon with less fuel through a more circuitous route. Their respective masses and fuel efficiencies are major factors in the two missions’ arrival times. Luna-25 weighs only 1,750 kg, much lighter than Chandrayaan-3’s 3,800 kg. With Luna-25, Russia has made a significant comeback in the race to explore the Moon.
