The Luna 25 spacecraft will attempt to land at the lunar south pole for the first time in a hunt for valuable water ice.
for the first time since Apollo 17 in 1972, is also focusing on the south pole. As part of Artemis, several US companies are set to attempt landings there in the coming years.
In June, Yuri Borisov, head of Russia’s space agency Roscosmos, described the Luna 25 mission as “high risk” with a 70% chance of success. NASA chief Senator Bill Nelson said on 8 August that the agency “wished them well”, noting that NASA saw any space race to return humans to the Moon as being between the United States and China.
Water ice, if discovered, would be useful scientifically. “By understanding how the Moon has collected water over time, we could start to piece together the history of water in the Solar System,” says Barber. “We can start asking questions about the local conditions near Earth as it was evolving.” “A null result is potentially just as interesting as a positive detection,” says Landis. Next year, a NASA rover called VIPER and a separate hopping spacecraft called Micro-Nova from the US firm Intuitive Machines will also look for ice inside lunar craters at the south pole. Results from this variety of surface missions could “help us narrow down where the water could be”, says Landis.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Russia elbows into the new Moon race with upcoming Luna-25 launchRussia is set to embark on a solo journey to the lunar surface with the upcoming Luna-25 launch. The mission aims to study the composition of the polar regolith and the lunar polar exosphere.
Read more »
Russia chases former Soviet glory with Luna 25 moon missionRussia's first lunar mission in nearly 50 years is designed to land near the moon’s south pole and is being viewed as an attempt to show that the country can still compete in the international space industry
Read more »
Russia launches Luna-25 moon lander, its 1st lunar probe in 47 yearsLuna-25 will kick off a new and ambitious Russian moon program, if all goes according to plan.
Read more »
Stay up late to see the half-lit moon during its last quarter phase tonightThe moon will be almost exactly half illuminated by the sun as it reaches the midway point between the full moon and the next new moon phases. August's Sturgeon Moon occurred on Aug. 1, and the next new moon will happen on Aug. 16. This will also mark the start of a new lunar cycle. Following the Sturgeon Moon, the illuminated side of the moon has been receding, with this progression called 'waning' by astronomers.
Read more »