Russian spacecraft Luna-25 enters lunar orbit: space agency

MOSCOW, Aug 16 (Reuters) – Russia’s lunar spacecraft entered orbit of the moon on Wednesday, a major step toward the country’s ambition to be the first to land on the moon’s south pole in search of frozen water. .

Luna-25 entered the orbit of the moon at 11:57 am (0857 GMT), the Russian space company Roskosmos said.

Luna-25 will circle the Moon, Earth’s only natural satellite, for about five days and then change course for a soft landing at the lunar south pole scheduled for August 21.

India’s Chandrayaan-3 entered orbit of the moon earlier this month ahead of a planned landing on the moon’s south pole later this month.

Luna-25, which is about the size of a small car, will aim to operate for a year at the South Pole, where scientists from NASA and other space agencies have detected traces of frozen water in craters in recent years. .

The presence of water on the moon has implications for the major space powers, which could allow for longer human stays on the planet that would allow for the extraction of lunar resources.

No Russian spacecraft have entered lunar orbit since Luna-24, the Soviet Union’s lunar mission in 1976, according to Anatoly Zak, the creator and editor of www.RussianSpaceWeb.com that tracks Russian space programs.

“Getting into lunar orbit is absolutely critical to the success of this project,” Zak told Reuters. “This is the first time in the post-Soviet period.”

“Some call this the second lunar run, so it is very important that Russia resume this program. Luna-25 is not just one mission, it is part of a much larger Russian strategy that stretches 10 years into the future.”

(This story has been resubmitted to change the syntax to ‘is’ from ‘is that’ in paragraph 9)

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