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NASA astronaut Frank Rubio now holds the record for the longest U.S. spaceflight. Rubio surpassed the U.S. space endurance record of 355 days on Monday at the International Space Station. But their stay was doubled after their Soyuz capsule developed a coolant leak while parked at the space station. By then, Rubio will have spent 371 days in space, more than two weeks longer than Mark Vande Hei, the previous U.S. record holder for a single spaceflight, Russia holds the world record of 437 days, set in the mid-1990s. “Your dedication is truly out of this world, Frank!” NASA chief Bill Nelson said via X, formerly known as Twitter.

Persons: Frank Rubio, Rubio, Mark Vande Hei, Frank !, Bill Nelson Organizations: NASA, Space, Twitter, Associated Press Health, Science Department, Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education, AP Locations: Russia, Kazakhstan

☆ Astronaut Frank Rubio sets US record for longest trip in space
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-11 | by ( Jackie Wattles | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

CNN —Astronaut Frank Rubio has now been in low-Earth orbit for more than 355 days, breaking the record for the longest space mission by a US astronaut. Rubio — who has been on the International Space Station since September 2022 — bested the previous record, held by retired NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei, at 1:40 p.m. NASAIn the record booksIf all goes to plan, and Rubio departs on September 27, his 371-day stay will not be a world record for the longest space mission. She now serves as a private astronaut for Axiom Space, which so far has hosted two commercial trips to the space station that have allowed paying customers to experience a trip to the orbiting laboratory alongside a veteran professional astronaut. During his stay in space, Rubio has seen several crews of astronauts rotate through via SpaceX vehicles.

Persons: Frank Rubio, Rubio —, —, Mark Vande Hei, Rubio, crewmates, Sergey Prokopyev, Dmitri Petelin —, Roscosmos, Rubio’s, Vande Hei, Bill Nelson, Frank ! ” Rubio, Valeri Polyakov, Vande Hei’s, Scott Kelly, Gennadi Padalka, Peggy Whitson, Whitson, Anna Kikina, Joel Montalbano, ” Montalbano, European Space Agency — Organizations: CNN, Space Station, NASA, Russian Soyuz, Soyuz, SpaceX, Roscosmos, Space, Russian, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, European Space Agency Locations: Russian, Roscosmos, Russia, United States, Ukraine

☆ Europe to decide within weeks on when to restart space launches
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-04 | by ( Tim Hepher | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

European Space Agency (ESA) General Director Josef Aschbacher speaks during the ESA Council at Ministerial level (CM22) at the Grand Palais Ephemere in Paris, France, November 23, 2022. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier/File photo Acquire Licensing RightsPARIS, Sept 4 (Reuters) - European space officials said on Monday they face crucial timing decisions in the coming weeks on the return to flight of Europe's flagship space launchers following a series of delays. Europe's third traditional path to space, the Russian Soyuz programme, was interrupted last year amid the breakdown in East-West relations following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Investigators blamed the launch failure on a faulty engine part and a fresh probe was launched in June after the failure of a ground test. Aschbacher said the timing of Vega C's return to operation would be set after the commission reports later this month.

Persons: Josef Aschbacher, Benoit Tessier, Vega, Elon Musk's, Italy's Vega, Aschbacher, Vega C's, Tim Hepher, Jason Neely, Alison Williams Organizations: European Space Agency, ESA, Palais Ephemere, REUTERS, Rights, Russian Soyuz, Elon, Elon Musk's SpaceX, Thomson Locations: Paris, France, Russian, East, Ukraine, Europe, Guiana, Germany

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Four astronauts returned to Earth early Monday after a six-month stay at the International Space Station. Their SpaceX capsule parachuted into the Atlantic off the Florida coast. Before departing the space station, they said they were craving hot showers, steaming cups of coffee and the ocean air since arriving in March. Their stay was doubled after their Soyuz capsule leaked all of its coolant and a new craft had to be launched. Between crew swaps, the space station is home to seven astronauts.

Persons: Stephen Bowen, Warren “ Woody ” Hoburg, Russia's Andrei Fedyaev, Sultan, “ You've Organizations: Space, SpaceX, NASA, United Arab, Control, Soyuz, Associated Press Health, Science Department, Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science, Educational Media Group, AP Locations: CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla, Florida, United Arab Emirates, Cape Canaveral, Jacksonville

☆ NASA's SpaceX Crew-6 astronauts depart space station after Hurricane Idalia clears Florida
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-03 | by ( Jackie Wattles | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —Four astronauts concluded their six-month stay aboard the International Space Station on Sunday and are heading for a splashdown off the coast of Florida days after Hurricane Idalia ravaged parts of the state. The astronauts, members of the Crew-6 mission run jointly by NASA and SpaceX, boarded their Crew Dragon capsule on Sunday and departed the space station at 7:05 a.m. Over the past week, the Crew-6 astronauts have worked to welcome and hand over operations to the Crew-7 team members, who arrived at the space station on Sunday. During their stint in space, the Crew-6 astronauts were slated to oversee more than 200 science and tech projects. But the Russian Soyuz spacecraft that carried him and two Russian colleagues to the space station sprang a coolant leak late last year.

Persons: Hurricane, Stephen Bowen, Warren “ Woody ” Hoburg, Alneyadi, Andrey Fedyaev, ” Hoburg, “, It’s, Hoburg, Frank Rubio, Rubio, Mark Vande Hei, Rubio’s, “ We’ve, “ Frank, … Organizations: CNN —, NASA, SpaceX, Carolinas, United, CRS, International Space Station, Russian Soyuz Locations: Florida, Gulf Coast, Georgia, United Arab Emirates, Russian, American, Saudi Arabia, Roscosmos

☆ Russia dominated the first space race, but now it can't even land on the moon. Photos show the US and China are way ahead.
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-02 | by ( Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

China, Russia, and the US (with its international allies) are all plotting huge new moonshots. Photos of the space efforts of the US, China, and Russia reveal how far behind the former space power has fallen. AdvertisementAdvertisementThe US and China are innovating, while Russia's space tech agesNASA's Space Launch System rocket with the Orion spacecraft aboard, at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Berger cited other underlying issues that are stifling Russia's space ambitions, like budget cuts, quality control, and corruption. Western sanctions have harmed Russia's space program in other ways, limiting its access to high-quality microchips, the AP reported.

Persons: Artemis, Russia isn't, hasn't, Russia's Luna, Bill Nelson, Luna, NASA’s, —, Tingshu Wang, Sergei Markov, Russia's, Steve Seipel, Yuri Borisov, Borisov, Bill Ingalls, Eric Berger, Vladimir Putin's, Berger, Xue Lei, landers, Roscosmos, Victoria Samson Organizations: Service, NASA, AP, Soviet Union, Operation, Space Corporation, Politico, New York Times, China National Space Administration, Vostochny, Luna, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight, Arizona State University NASA, Orion, NASA NASA, SpaceX, National Museum, Reuters, Kremlin, Kennedy Space Center, CNN, Russian Soyuz, Baikonur, Future Publishing, Getty, European Space Agency, ESA, Secure, Foundation Locations: Wall, Silicon, China, Russia, Soviet, Soviet Union, China National Space Administration Russia, Russia's Far, India, Russian, Beijing, Ukraine, Florida, Kazakhstan, Washington

☆ Kremlin plays down moon landing failure, says space programme will continue
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Roscosmos/Vostochny Space Centre/Handout via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. MANDATORY Acquire Licensing Rights Read moreMOSCOW, Aug 29 (Reuters) - The Kremlin on Tuesday said that the failure of Russia's Luna-25 mission to the Moon earlier this month was "nothing terrible" and that the main thing was to continue Russia's space exploration program. In a call with reporters, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: "This is not a reason to despair, nor to tear our hair out. Luna-25, Russia's first lunar mission since 1976, crashed into the Moon on Aug. 19 after a failed orbital manoeuvre, in what has been seen abroad as a major blow to the Russian space program. "The main thing is not to stop.

Persons: Russia's Luna, Dmitry Peskov, Luna, Peskov, Felix Light, Guy Faulconbridge, Mark Trevelyan Organizations: 2.1b, Vostochny, Indian, Thomson Locations: Amur, Russia, MOSCOW

☆ SpaceX, NASA launch four astronauts from four countries
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-26 | by ( Jackie Wattles | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

The crew is riding aboard the SpaceX Crew Dragon Endurance capsule on the mission, dubbed Crew-7. “Space travel is difficult, but you make it look easy,” Moghbeli dispatched to SpaceX mission control from the Crew Dragon capsule after launch. The Crew-7 astronauts will spend about five days taking over operations from the SpaceX Crew-6 astronauts, who have been on the space station since March. The Crew-7 astronauts represent the most internationally diverse SpaceX crew to date. After reaching the space station, the Crew-7 astronauts will bid farewell to the SpaceX Crew-6 astronauts, who will return home aboard their spacecraft, the Crew Dragon Endeavour, in the coming days.

Persons: NASA’s, NASA’s Jasmin Moghbeli, Andreas Mogensen, Satoshi Furukawa, Konstantin Borisov, Roscosmos, ” Moghbeli, We’re, ”, Furukawa, Borisov, —, “, Moghbeli, Baldwin, I’ve, Russia’s, I’m, Boeing’s, ” Mogensen, ” Furukawa, Loral O’Hara, Oleg Kononenko, Nikolai Organizations: CNN —, SpaceX, NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, European Space Agency, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, JAXA, NASA, ESA, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Naval Postgraduate School, Marine Corps, Soyuz, Copenhagen International School, Imperial College London, University of Texas, Surrey Space Centre, University of Tokyo, Russian Soyuz Locations: Florida, Danish, Russian, Bad Nauheim, Germany, Frankfurt —, New York, Long, Monterey , California, United States, Russia, Ukraine, Copenhagen, United Kingdom, Austin, Surrey, Kanagawa, Japan, Tokyo

☆ Why Russia and India both crashed on the moon's south pole before India nailed the first soft landing there
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-23 | by ( Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

The feat comes just days after Russia crash-landed there, and four years after India's first attempt crashed into the lunar south pole. AdvertisementAdvertisementIt was the country's first bid at the lunar south pole, which is especially valuable space real estate because of its frozen-water reserves. Both the US and China also hope to land on the lunar south pole before the end of the decade. AdvertisementAdvertisementThe lunar south pole is uniquely hazardousThe very thing that makes the moon's south pole so desirable — the permanently shadowed regions that harbor water ice — also makes it more difficult to land on. AdvertisementAdvertisementAlso, nobody has ever been to the moon's south pole.

Persons: India's, Robert Braun, Braun, It's, Luna, Kailasavadivoo Sivan, Aijaz, it's, you've, Rajanish, landers Organizations: Service, Space Exploration, Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, NASA, Vostochny, Space Corporation, AP, European Space Agency, Space Research Organization, ISRO, India, Soviet Union, Operation, India's Bharatiya Janata Party Locations: Wall, Silicon, Russia, India, Russia's Far, Soviet Union, China, Europe, Ukraine, Bangalore, Mumbai

☆ Opinion: India’s moon landing shines an uncomfortable light on Russia’s failures
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-23 | by ( Opinion Leroy Chiao | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

The milestone marks a huge accomplishment for its nascent space program, which has made steady progress over the years. China also boasts a human spaceflight program with an operational space station, including crew and cargo transport spacecraft. Indranil Mukherjee/AFP/Getty ImagesIn the International Space Station (ISS) partnership, the US, Europe, Japan and Canada also continue to move forward with space exploration. Instead of expanding, its space program has been in decline for several years. The lamentable state of Moscow’s space program is just the latest confirmation of that.

Persons: Leroy Chiao, Yuri Gagarin, John F, Vladimir Putin, Putin, —, Luna, Indranil Mukherjee, Artemis, Jeff Bezos, Sergei Krikalev, Dmitry Rogozin, Nick Hague, ” Organizations: NASA, Russian Soyuz, International, CNN, Leroy Chiao CNN, Sputnik, Republicans, Russian Luna, Getty, Space, SpaceX, Soviet Union, ISS, Expedition, Space Shuttle, Twitter, Facebook, Progress, Soyuz, Luna Locations: Russian, what’s, India, Delhi, Soviet Union, United States, Moscow, Russia, America, Ukraine, Asia, China, Mumbai, US, Europe, Japan, Canada, West, Soviet, Columbia

☆ Russia's Luna-25 moon-lander spun out of control and crashed, fumbling an attempt to become the first country to land on the lunar south pole. India is up next.
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-21 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Russia's Luna-25 spacecraft crashed into the moon's surface, ending its mission. The country was racing India to be the first country to land a spacecraft on the lunar's south pole. The moon's south pole likely contains frozen water that could be used to produce air and rocket fuel. The Luna-25 was in a race with an Indian spacecraft launched on July 14 to be the first to reach the south pole. A previous Indian attempt to land at the south pole in 2019 ended when the spacecraft crashed into the moon's surface.

Persons: Russia's Luna, Roscosmos, Luna, Vitaly Egorov, Russia's, cosmonautics, Egorov, Vladimir Putin Organizations: Service, Russia's Soyuz, Space Corporation, Luna, Soviet Union, NASA, Vostochny Locations: India, Wall, Silicon, Indian, Russian, Soviet, Soviet Union, United States, China, Russia, Roscosmos, Ukraine, Russia's Far

☆ Factbox: Russia's Luna-25 moon mission fails: what you need to know
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

LUNA-25It was Russia's first moon mission since the Soviet Union's Luna-24 returned with samples from the moon in 1976. The lander was boosted out of Earth's orbit toward the moon a little over an hour later. Russia had not attempted a moon mission since Luna-24 in 1976, when Leonid Brezhnev ruled the Kremlin. Luna-25 was supposed to execute a soft landing on the south pole of the moon on Aug. 21, according to Russian space officials. Eventually, in the early 2010s, Russia settled upon the idea of the Luna-25 mission to the south pole of the moon.

Persons: Luna, Roskosmos, Yuri Gagarin, Leonid Brezhnev, Vladimir Putin, Guy Faulconbridge, Philippa Fletcher, Christina Fincher Organizations: 2.1b, Vostochny, REUTERS Acquire, Rights, Soyuz, Luna, Kremlin, Thomson Locations: Amur, Russia, Soviet, Vostochny cosmodrome, Moscow, RUSSIA, Soviet Union

☆ Russia's Luna-25 spacecraft suffers technical glitch in pre-landing maneuver
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-19 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Russia reported an "abnormal situation" Saturday on its moon-bound Luna-25 spacecraft, which launched earlier this month. The spacecraft is scheduled to land on the south pole of the moon on Monday, racing to land on Earth's satellite ahead of an Indian spacecraft. The lunar south pole is of particular interest to scientists, who believe the permanently shadowed polar craters may contain water. Also on Saturday, the Russian spacecraft produced its first results. A previous Indian attempt to land at the moon's south pole in 2019 ended when the lander crashed into the moon's surface.

Persons: Roscosmos, Luna, Russia's, Egorov, Vladimir Putin Organizations: 2.1b, Vostochny, Soviet Union, Baikonur Locations: Amur, Russia, Russian, Soviet, Soviet Union, United States, China, India, Ukraine, Kazakhstan

☆ Astronauts are banned from drinking alcohol at work, but this hasn't stopped them sneaking everything from communion wine to cognac into space
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-19 | by ( Sawdah Bhaimiya | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

NASA and other space agencies have banned alcohol in space because it can damage equipment. But astronauts have found ways around this and smuggled alcohol onto spacecrafts for decades. In the one-sixth gravity of the moon the wine curled slowly and gracefully up the side of the cup. The space agency has since banned astronauts from drinking 12 hours before they fly. Others would hide alcohol in thick books that were hollowed out by removing the pages inside.

Persons: Daniel G Huot, NASA's, Buzz Aldrin, Aldrin, Madalyn Murray O'Hair, Igor Volk Organizations: NASA, Service, NASA's Johnson Space Center, BBC, Guardian, Webster Presbyterian Church, Soyuz, Metro, Russian Locations: Wall, Silicon, Houston, Russia

☆ Russia’s Luna 25 lunar lander has ‘emergency situation’ during moon approach
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-19 | by ( Jackie Wattles | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —The Luna 25 spacecraft reported an “emergency situation on board,” Russia’s space agency, Roscosmos, said on Saturday. Russia’s Luna 25 lander mission marked the country’s first attempt at landing a spacecraft on the moon since the Soviet era. The last lunar lander, Luna 24, landed on the lunar surface on August 18, 1976. Luna 25’s trajectory allowed it to surpass India’s Chandrayaan-3 lunar lander, which launched in mid-July, on the way to the lunar surface. Safely landing a spacecraft on the lunar surface would mark a huge step for Russia’s space program.

Persons: ” Roscosmos, It’s, Russia’s, India’s, Jonathan McDowell, ”, Victoria Samson Organizations: CNN, Vostochny, Soyuz, Center for Astrophysics, Harvard & Smithsonian, Roscosmos, Luna, Secure World Foundation Locations: “, Soviet, Russia’s, Oblast, India, Russia, Washington

☆ Russia's Luna-25 spacecraft enters lunar orbit
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] A Soyuz-2.1b rocket booster with a Fregat upper stage and the lunar landing spacecraft Luna-25 blasts off from a launchpad at the Vostochny Cosmodrome in the far eastern Amur region, Russia, August 11, 2023. The Luna-25 entered the moon's orbit at 11:57 a.m. (0857 GMT), Russia's space corporate Roskosmos said. India's Chandrayaan-3 entered the moon's orbit earlier this month ahead of a planned touchdown on the south pole of the moon later this month. No Russian spacecraft has entered lunar orbit since Luna-24, the Soviet Union's 1976 moon mission, according to Anatoly Zak, the creator and publisher of www.RussianSpaceWeb.com which tracks Russian space programmes. "Entering lunar orbit is absolutely critical for the success of this project," Zak told Reuters.

Persons: Luna, India's, Anatoly Zak, Zak, Guy Faulconbridge, Andrew Cawthorne, Bernadette Baum Organizations: 2.1b, Vostochny, REUTERS, Rights, NASA, Thomson Locations: Amur, Russia, Soviet

☆ Russia's Luna-25 spacecraft enters lunar orbit -space agency
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Roscosmos/Vostochny Space Centre/Handout via REUTERS/File photo Acquire Licensing RightsMOSCOW, Aug 16 (Reuters) - Russia's lunar spacecraft entered the moon's orbit on Wednesday, a major step towards the country's ambition of being the first to land on the moon's south pole in the search for frozen water. The Luna-25 entered the moon's orbit at 11:57 a.m. (0857 GMT), Russia's space corporate Roskosmos said. India's Chandrayaan-3 entered the moon's orbit earlier this month ahead of a planned touchdown on the south pole of the moon later this month. No Russian spacecraft has entered lunar orbit since Luna-24, the Soviet Union's 1976 moon mission, according to Anatoly Zak, the creator and publisher of www.RussianSpaceWeb.com which tracks Russian space programmes. "Entering lunar orbit is absolutely critical for the success of this project," Zak told Reuters.

Roscosmos/Vostochny Space Centre/Handout via REUTERS/File photoMOSCOW, Aug 13 (Reuters) - Russia on Sunday switched on the scientific instruments aboard its lunar lander and scientists began processing its first data as the space craft sped towards the moon in a bid to be first to find ice on the Earth's only natural satellite. As it hurtles towards the moon, which is 384,400 km (238,855 miles) from our planet, the scientific instruments were switched on with the first data on the flight measured, Russia's space agency said. "The first measurement data on the flight to the Moon has been obtained, and the project's scientific team has begun processing it," Roscosmos said. There is much riding on the Luna-25 mission for Russia: if it succeeds, Russia is likely to say it shows that the West's sanctions over the Ukraine war cannot hold Russia back. But failure would again raise questions over Russia's space ambitions after the decades of superpower space competition with the United States during the Cold War.

Persons: Russian Luna, Roscosmos, Luna, Neil Armstrong, Guy Faulconbridge, Ros Russell Organizations: 2.1b, Vostochny, REUTERS, Sunday, India, Soyuz, Luna, Moscow, NASA, United States, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Amur, Russia, MOSCOW, Russian, Russia's, Ukraine, United States, Soviet, Moscow, Soviet Union, China

☆ 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

Russia said that it would launch further lunar missions and then explore the possibility of a joint Russian-China crewed mission and even a lunar base. NASA has spoken about a "lunar gold rush" and explored the potential of moon mining. The conditions of the moon mean robots would have to do most of the hard work, though water on the moon would allow for long-term human presence. It has not been ratified by any major space power. The United States in 2020 announced the Artemis Accords, named after NASA’s Artemis moon program, to seek to build on existing international space law by establishing “safety zones" on the moon.

Persons: Guy Faulconbridge, Peter Graff Organizations: NASA, European Space Agency, 2.1b, Vostochny, REUTERS, Boeing, United Nations, RAND Corporation, Artemis Accords, Thomson Locations: MOSCOW, Russia, United States, China, India, Russian, Sun, Amur

☆ Russia launches moon lander in race to find water on moon
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

[1/2] A Soyuz-2.1b rocket booster with a Fregat upper stage and the lunar landing spacecraft Luna-25 blasts off from a launchpad at the Vostochny Cosmodrome in the far eastern Amur region, Russia, in this still image from video taken August 11, 2023. Roscosmos/Handout via REUTERSWASHINGTON, Aug 10 (Reuters) - Russia launched its first moon-landing spacecraft in 47 years on Thursday, in a bid to be the first power to make a soft landing on the lunar south pole, a region believed to hold coveted deposits of water ice. The launch was livestreamed by Russia's space agency. Reporting by Joey Roulette; Editing by Jamie FreedOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Joey Roulette, Jamie Freed Organizations: 2.1b, Vostochny, REUTERS, Thomson Locations: Amur, Russia, Handout, REUTERS WASHINGTON

For the first time in nearly half a century, Russia has launched a spacecraft that is headed to the moon. On Friday morning at a spaceport in the far eastern part of Russia, a rocket lifted Luna-25, a robotic lander of moderate size, to Earth orbit. The Soyuz rocket began its flight under cloudy skies at the Vostochny launchpad. About 10 minutes into the flight, the spacecraft and a space tug propulsion unit separated from the rocket’s third stage. In about an hour, the space tug will push Luna-25 on a course to the moon.

Persons: Vladimir V, Putin, Luna Organizations: Soyuz Locations: Russia, Ukraine

☆ Russia will launch its first lunar lander since 1976
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-10 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —Russia is preparing to launch Luna 25, the country’s first lunar lander in 47 years. Hitching a ride aboard a Soyuz-2 Fregat rocket, Luna 25 is expected to take flight at 8:10 a.m. local time Friday, or 7:10 p.m. Russia’s last lunar lander, Luna 24, landed on the moon on August 18, 1976. Initially, Roscosmos and the European Space Agency planned to partner on Luna 25, as well as Luna 26, Luna 27 and the ExoMars rover. The mission is India’s second attempt to land at the lunar south pole after Chandrayaan-2 crashed into the moon in September 2019.

Persons: India’s, Roscomos, ”, Artemis III, “ We’re, Bill Nelson, “ There’s, Nelson, “ Organizations: CNN, Vostochny, Soyuz, YouTube, Roscosmos, Luna, Reuters, NASA, European Space Agency, ESA, Soviet Locations: Russia, Amur Oblast, Russian, Ukraine, Chandrayaan, India, United States, Soviet Union, China, Mars, Soviet

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

☆ Russia is evacuating a village that may be hit by falling rocket debris as it prepares for its first moon landing in almost 50 years
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-08 | by ( Joshua Zitser | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

On Friday, Russia returns to lunar exploration with its first expected moon landing since 1976. But one village in Russia's Far East, which could be hit by falling rocket debris, is being evacuated. The village falls within the potential impact zone of the launch, making the evacuation necessary, he added. After a hiatus of nearly 50 years, Russia will launch its first lunar landing spacecraft on Friday. Scientists believe the south pole of the moon contains a lot of water ice, which astronauts could potentially mine for rocket fuel.

Persons: Alexei Maslov, Luna, Maslov, Yuri Borisov, Borisov Organizations: Residents, Service, Vostochny, Google, Reuters, Agence, Press, AFP Locations: Russia, Russia's Far, Wall, Silicon, Shakhtinsky, Russia's Khabarovsk, Khabarovsk region's Verkhnebureinskyi, Moscow, Agence France, India

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