An unprecedented race is taking place right now in space. India and Russia are competing to be the first to reach the South Pole of the Moon. Both countries sent an unmanned mission to Earth’s satellite and, according to their plans, they would arrive in the next few days. Whoever gets it first it will do so only a few days before its competitor.
Russia, for now, seems to have the upper hand in this head-to-head race. The mission moon-25 of Roscosmos, the Russian state space company, was successfully inserted into lunar orbit on Tuesday. “All Luna-25 systems are working normally, communication with her is stable,” the Russians said in a Telegram post. It is the first mission of this country to the lunar surface since 1976.
The ship is now circling the Moon. It will do so for approximately five days. Then, it will change course for the final maneuver: a smooth and complex landing at the lunar south pole. Estimated date? Next Monday, August 21.
When the Russian mission took off on August 10, the Indian Space Research Agency sent them warm greetings. Congratulations, Roscosmos, on the successful launch of Luna-25. It is wonderful to have another meeting point in our space trips, “he posted on Twitter, like any good opponent.
India is called Chandrayaan-3 and it has also entered lunar orbit. She did it on August 5, 22 days after its release. The team celebrated by sharing their first satellite images. On Thursday, the space probe’s lander successfully separated from the propulsion module. In the next few hours, it will start its engines, to reduce the altitude of its orbit and prepare for its descent. is scheduled to occur August 23.
Russia’s mission does not affect India’s
But nothing is certain. The south pole of the Moon is dark and cold, which makes the landing maneuver more difficult. Also, no other space agency has done it before. Not even the Chinese or NASA. Any unforeseen event could delay any of the missions or even make them fail.
This is India’s second attempt to land on the moon. In 2019, the Chandrayaan-2 mission took off for an area near the South Pole. However, it lost contact with Earth moments before landing. NASA later confirmed with photos that the Indian lander had crashed near the planned landing site.
Even though the two missions coincide in timing, they won’t bother because they have different and remote landing zones. The Russians are aiming for the Bogoslavsky crater and the Indians have chosen the Manzinus crater, some 120 kilometers away. “There is no danger of them interfering with each other or colliding. There is enough space for everyone on the Moon.” a Roscosmos spokesperson told Reuters.
What is at the south pole of the Moon?
Both missions point to the lunar south pole for a reason. In this area, in the 1990s, ice was discovered. That is, possible water. And now it is believed that there may be a lot. Scientists from the Chinese National Academy of Sciences have estimated that there may be on the entire Moon about 270,000 million tons of water in the form of ice.
That’s why everyone wants to go there. And even if the first unmanned mission is Russian or Indian, two space giants are already preparing to be the first to send humans to the South Pole of the Moon. Yes, the United States and China.
NASA, the first and only to send humans to the Moon so far, hope to repeat the feat in 2025. with his mission Artemis. The Chinese announced last July that they plan to send their first astronauts sometime in 2030. Both projects contemplate the prior dispatch of space probes to prepare the ground for their manned missions.
Lunar water may be a source of hydrogen and oxygen that could be used for, for example, make rocket fuel. Space agencies also have their eye on other minerals: iron, silicon and magnesium. The lunar mining industry is about to start.