2023-08-03 05:26:00
VLADIVOSTOK, Aug. 3 (Xinhua) — Russia’s first lunar station in nearly 50 years, Luna-25, will fly to the moon in the early morning of Aug. 11, local media reported Thursday.
According to the Russian agency RIA Novosti, the launch date is set for August 11, when the Soyuz-2.1b rocket with the Fregat upper stage and the automatic station will take off from the Vostochny cosmodrome, located in the Amur Oblast. , at 2:10 a.m. Moscow time (23:10 GMT on August 10).
The previous Russian station, Luna-24, was launched in 1976. Its return capsule brought regarding 170 grams of lunar soil back to Earth.
Luna-25 does not have a return capsule. It should become the first station in history to land on the south pole of the Moon. The main tasks of the mission are to test soft landing technologies, study the internal structure and explore resources, including water.
After the rocket is launched and separated, the upper stage will send the automatic station on the flight path to the Moon. After four and a half days, the station will enter orbit and change it several times to land in the south pole region of the Moon. The scientific work of the station should last one year. END
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