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☆ Russia is racing to beat the US, India, and China to the south pole of the moon in its first lunar mission since the 70s
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-11 | by ( Marianne Guenot | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

If successful, it could be the first to do a soft landing on the south pole of the moon. Roscosmos, Russia's space agency, launched the Luna-25 mission on Friday morning from the Vostochny Cosmodrome in the far eastern Amur region, Russia, Reuters reported. The Soyuz-2.1b rocket is carrying a lander, which Roscosmos will try to land on the south pole of the moon on August 21, Reuters reported. The south pole is a crucial strategic objectiveRussia isn't the only nation vying for the south pole. Russia's ambitious return to the moon was delayed by invading UkraineRussia's Luna-25 mission, the first moon mission in over a decade, aims to put a rover on the south pole of the moon.

Persons: Roscosmos, Lev Zeleny, Luna, Maxim Litvak, Peter Byrne, Ukraine Russia's Luna, space.com Organizations: Service, Russia, Luna, Vostochny, Reuters, Russian Academy of Sciences, Space Research Institute, NASA, REUTERS Luna, European Space Agency Locations: Russia, India, China, Wall, Silicon, Amur, Liverpool, Ukraine, Handout, Luna

The Russian lunar mission, the first since 1976, is racing against India, which launched its Chandrayaan-3 lunar lander last month, and more broadly with the United States and China, both of which have advanced lunar exploration programs targeting the lunar south pole. The lander is expected to touch down on the moon on Aug. 21, Russia's space chief Yuri Borisov told Interfax on Friday. I hope that a highly precise soft landing on the moon will happen," Borisov told workers at the Vostochny cosmodrome after the launch, according to Interfax. A Japanese lunar landing failed last year and an Israeli mission failed in 2019. No country has made a soft landing on the south pole.

Persons: Roscosmos, Yuri Borisov, Borisov, Luna, Asif Siddiqi, Neil Armstrong, Maxim Litvak, Guy Faulconbridge, Joey Roulette, Leslie Adler, Gerry Doyle Organizations: India, Soyuz, Luna, Vostochny, NASA, Kremlin, Space, European Space Agency, Fordham University, Reuters, 2.1b, REUTERS U.S, European Union, Thomson Locations: MOSCOW, Russia, United States, China, Vostochny cosmodrome, Moscow, Ukraine, Russian, Amur, Handout, Soviet, Soviet Union, India, Japan, Washington

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