At 02:10 Moscow time, the Soyuz-2.1b carrier rocket with the Fregat upper stage and the Luna-25 automatic station was launched from the Vostochny cosmodrome. The launch was broadcast live by Roscosmos. YouTube-channel. The mission took place after a 47-year hiatus.
In the first stage, the Fregat upper stage left nine minutes after the start. He started the main engine twice to set the device to the desired trajectory.
According to this “Roscosmos”The rocket worked normally.
“… The upper stage has separated from the third stage and is now putting the automatic station in flight orbit to the Moon,” the message says.
Experts calculated in advance that parts of the first stage, separated at the time of launch, should fall on the territory of the Khabarovsk Territory. District Governor Mikhail Degtyarev Telegramgave information about the canal discoveries.
“So, parts of the stage descended 28 km from the village of Shakhtinsky, between the Nizhny Desh and Tastakh rivers. Three of them were found immediately, the search for the fourth will continue,” wrote the official.
The governor announced that the residents of Shakhtinsky – 18 people – were evacuated an hour before the launch. Already at 10:30 (03:30 Moscow time) they were allowed to return home.
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“Also, a group of environmentalists is flying to the crash site today. They will take samples and send them to the laboratory,” he said.
The rocket will reach the moon in five days – this will be the second stage. The day before it enters lunar orbit, its orbit will be corrected a second time. DEA News.
In the third phase, the station will fly in a circular orbit of the Moon at a height of 100 km for about three days to select the most suitable landing site. It will then land in the South Pole of the Moon. According to estimates, the station will land on Earth’s natural satellite around August 21.
Launch delayed four times
as he wrote mk.ru, the launch of Luna-25 was delayed four times. Initially, the rocket was supposed to launch at the end of 2019, but the launch was delayed to 2021, then to 2022, and then to July 2023.
According to mk.ru, the delay was due to testing the propulsion system, which will be improved for a smooth landing of the station on the moon.
On August 8, the Soyuz-2.1b launch vehicle, together with the Luna-25, was delivered to the launch complex of the 1C site of the Vostochny cosmodrome. TASS With reference to Roscosmos.
“After the rocket was placed in a vertical position in the launch complex, specialists at the enterprises of the state enterprise Roscosmos continued the preparations for the launch,” the report says.
The purpose of the flight “Luna-25”
Maxim Litvak, Head of Luna-25 Scientific Instrumentation Complex Planning Group announced The importance of launching an automatic station rocket.
“21. In the 19th century, no one except the Chinese successfully landed on the moon. Even the Americans did not sit down, their schedule continued to shift to the right, closed and changed. During this time, several generations of engineers have changed. So a full-fledged experience is lost and not just with us, ”Litvak said.
The expert emphasized that the Luna-25 will land in an area where no one has landed before, with a high content of water ice and volatile compounds.
while transmitting DEA News, the device will stay on the moon for about a year. The main tasks of the mission are the exploration of resources, including water, and the development of soft landing technology.
The new data will help determine when Earth’s natural satellite was formed, how it evolved, and what condition its surface is in. Studying the contents of the Moon’s polar regions will also reveal more about the history of the Sun, the Solar System, and the Universe.
And then what?
Yuri Borisov, head of Roscosmos, said the company plans to send three more vehicles to the moon in the next few years. TASS.
“2027 Luna-26, 2028 Luna-27, in 2030 or after 2030 Luna-28,” said Borisov.
He added that the next phase of the program will be carried out together with our Chinese colleagues. Scientists plan to build a lunar base and make manned visits to the moon.
“This is an important long-term program that we hope many countries will participate in,” said Borisov.
In 2019, China announced the first successful landing of a space probe on the far side of the moon. DEA News. The Chang’e-4 instrument transferred images from the surface and conducted an experiment with plant and insect samples brought from Earth.
“The Russian program is practically zero”
Versions Policy And The Wall Street Gazette In their material they wrote about the possibility of a new space race, because only three countries – Russia, the USA and China – were able to successfully land a spacecraft on the moon. Luna 25 will be groundbreaking if it manages to fulfill its missions. At the same time, the Russian Federation plans to cooperate with China in this area, but works with the USA. does not plan.
According to Politico, American astronauts will land in the South Pole by the end of the decade. This should happen as part of the Artemis program, which includes European countries and Canada.
Speaking to socialbites.ca, Ivan Moiseev, head of the Space Policy Institute, said that there is no question of any comic book race.
“The Luna-25 is aimed at restoring the technologies that we had only in the mid-60s of the last century, namely the technology of landing on the moon,” said the expert.
According to him, the Chinese are already doing this, and two days after the Russian station in the South Pole, the Indian should land.
“In general, compared to the Chinese or American lunar programs, the Russian program is practically zero,” said Moiseev.
He noticed that the Israeli students made a station similar to the Russian station, even though they failed to land on the moon.
“… there can be no race, because Russia has very modest plans for the Moon compared to the large-scale plans of China and the USA,” the expert said.