Russia’s space agency, Roscosmos, released the first images of the space transmitted by its lander, Luna-25. The spacecraft was launched atop a Soyuz rocket from the Vostochny Cosmodrome on Friday. The spacecraft showcased a remarkable view of the Moon from its vantage point.
Roscosmos in a statement said that these images depict the structural components of the Luna-25 craft against the backdrop of Earth, a realm that the spacecraft has left forever, and also against the lunar backdrop, which Luna is rapidly approaching. One of the images also unveils the mission emblem and the bucket of the onboard manipulator.
Taken from a distance of around 310,000 kilometers away from Earth, as conveyed in a Telegram update by Roscosmos, these images exemplify the lander’s advanced capabilities.
Luna’s Potential Lunar Orbit Entry on Wednesday
Despite being launched nearly a month later than Chandrayaan-3, the Russian lander holds the potential to achieve a lunar landing at the Moon’s south pole before the Indian mission. The timeline for Luna-25 involves a potential lunar orbit entry on August 16, followed by a tentative soft landing between August 21 and 22. In contrast, Chandrayaan-3 aims for a soft landing on August 23.
The divergent trajectories are a consequence of Luna-25’s lighter payload and increased fuel storage capacity. With a launch mass of merely 1,750 kilograms, Luna-25 takes a more direct path towards the Moon.
In contrast, Chandrayaan-3, a mission of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), compensates for its limited fuel storage by adopting a circuitous route, capitalizing on the gravitational forces of both Earth and the Moon. Its path involves a sequence of maneuvers that progressively elevate it to higher Earth orbits before transitioning into a lunar orbit. Presently, it’s undergoing maneuvers that reduce its orbit until it reaches a 100-kilometer lunar orbit.