Russia has launched a new lunar mission, the first after 47 years. The rocket Soyuz carrying probe Luna-25 was launched at 1.10am on Friday 11 August from the Vostochny Cosmodrome. The spacecraft will reach lunar orbit in five days and will stay there for between three and seven days to choose the right point to land in the lunar south pole area. According to a Roscosmos source, the agency expects the moon landing around August 21st. The spacecraft, which will remain on the moon for a year, will have the task of “taking (samples) and analyzing the soil” as well as “conducting long-term scientific research”. According to the director of the agency, General Yury Borisov, Roscosmos plans other lunar missions in the coming years: Luna-26 in 2027, Luna-27 in 2028 and Luna-28 in 2030 or later.
The return to the moon is an ambitious goal that Russia is pursuing without the collaboration of Europe, interrupted after the invasion of Ukraine. Bringing man back to the Moon to stay there: this was the goal that in 2015 had prompted the European Space Agency and its Russian counterpart Roscosmos to join forces to field a series of missions (Luna-25, Luna-26 and Luna-27) aimed at verifying the conditions for the creation of a permanent human settlement on our natural satellite, thus making a dream come true which was abruptly interrupted in the 1970s.
The article Moscow launches a rocket with a probe towards the Moon: the first Russian lunar mission after 47 years has started – Video comes from Il Fatto Quotidiano.