Russia’s first moon mission in nearly 50 years continues to make milestones.
The Luna-25 lander has taken the first detailed photo of the Moon’s surface, Russian space agency Roscosmos announced in a Telegram post today (Aug. 17).
„Zeeman is the farthest south polar crater of the Moon in the image,” Roscosmos officials wrote. Position, which also shared the photo. „The coordinates of the crater’s center correspond to 75 degrees south latitude and 135 degrees west longitude.” (This post is in Russian; translation by Google.)
Related: Russia launched the Luna-25 lunar lander, its first lunar probe in 47 years
Luna-25 was launched on August 10, marking the beginning of a new era of Russian space exploration. The last Russian lunar probe was Luna-24, which was part of the Soviet Union in 1976.
Luna-25 took its first space photos on Sunday (Aug. 13), snapping selfies against the backdrop of the distant Moon and Earth. That milestone was soon followed by an even bigger one — reaching lunar orbit, a feat Roscosmos announced yesterday (Aug. 16).
Luna-25 is in lunar orbit, but it won’t be for long. The study will be conducted in the coming days, perhaps Aug.
The lander will target the gray dirt region near the moon’s south pole, which is thought to be a region rich in water ice. If Luna-25 sticks to the landing, the spacecraft will hunt for water ice and conduct various surveys during its surface mission, which is expected to last an Earth year.
Russia isn’t the only country with the South Pole in its sights. India’s Chandrayaan 3 lander also aims to touch down on August 23 or August 24. And NASA has its sights set on the moon’s south pole for the long term: The agency plans to land the crewed Artemis 3 mission there in late 2025. or 2026, a prelude to the construction of one or more sites in the region.
„Oddany rozwiązywacz problemów. Przyjazny hipsterom praktykant bekonu. Miłośnik kawy. Nieuleczalny introwertyk. Student.