With the launch of Chandrayaan-3 on July 14, 2023, India is expecting to make history by becoming the first country to land a craft on the South Pole of the Moon. However, recent developments may thwack the country’s dreams of creating history. Russia, a close ally of India, is poised to launch its own lunar missions after 47 years.
The Roscosmos, Russia’s Space Agency, will launch the Luna-25 lander on August 11. With the launch announcement, it is expected that Russia’s Luna-25 will beat India’s Chandrayaan-3 to reach the South Pole first, even though the latter had a headstart of four weeks.
Chandrayaan-3 Landing Date
Chandrayaan-3, which is carrying a lander and a rover has reached closer to the Moon’s surface and its orbit has been decreased to 174 km x 1437 km. The craft is scheduled to make landfall on the South Pole of the Moon on August 23. After landing on the surface in August, the rover will then deploy and explore the lunar surface.
Chandrayaan-3 Mission:
— ISRO (@isro) August 9, 2023
Even closer to the moon’s surface.
Chandrayaan-3's orbit is reduced to 174 km x 1437 km following a manuevre performed today.
The next operation is scheduled for August 14, 2023, between 11:30 and 12:30 Hrs. IST pic.twitter.com/Nx7IXApU44
Luna-25 Landing Date
Luna 25, also known as the Luna-Glob-Lander, is a Russian lunar lander mission set to launch on August 11, 2023. It is Russia's first lunar mission in 47 years, the previous one took place in 1976. Luna-25 is set to launch from the Vostochny Cosmodrome, which is 5,550 kilometres east of Moscow. The spacecraft is also targeted to land on the South Pole of the Moon.
#Russia is preparing for its Lunar Mission "Luna 25" to reach Moon's South Pole before India.
— Indian Aerospace Defence News - IADN (@NewsIADN) August 8, 2023
The launch is scheduled from #Russia's Vostochny cosmodrome on Friday. Luna 25 is expected to land on 21/22 August before Chandrayaan-3.
Roscosmos has said the two missions would not… pic.twitter.com/5ixw6E83gt
According to the Roscosmos scientists, the spacecraft will take around 5 days to fly to the Moon and then spend the next 5 to 7 days in its orbit, before landing on the surface. In short, after the launch, Luna-25 will take approximately 12 days to land on the Moon, which will coincide with Chandrayaan-3’s landing date, which is August 23.
Chandrayaan-3 vs Luna-25: An Overview
According to Roscosmos, Luna-25 will not get in the way of Chandrayaan-3 as the two have different landing spots on the South Pole.
Luna-25, weighing 1.8 tonnes and carrying 31 kg (68 pounds) of scientific equipment, will use a scoop to collect rock samples from depths of up to 15 cm (6 inches) to test for the presence of frozen water capable of supporting human life.
On the other hand, Chandryaan-3 will run experiments for two weeks. Carrying four pieces of scientific equipment, Chandryaan-3 aims to study moonquakes, heatwaves, the plasma environment, and the gravitational relationship between the Moon and the Earth.
It is not the first time that India is attempting to make landfall on the Moon. In 2008, India launched the Chandryaan-1, the nation’s first lunar mission, whose findings shocked the scientific community. Though the spacecraft did not touch down on the lunar surface, it detected the presence of water molecules. A few years later, the ISRO (Indian Space Research Organization) launched the Chandrayaan-2, which successfully reached the Moon’s orbit, however, due to a technical glitch it lost all communications just hours before landing and ultimately crashed.
Chandrayaan-3 is expected to make history by becoming the first Indian spacecraft to land on the Moon. ISRO’s Chairman has also stated that they have designed the spacecraft to be failure-proof, and even in extreme design failures, it will make landfall on the lunar surface.
It remains to be seen which spacecraft will land on the lunar south pole first and create history.
Regardless of the outcome, the two missions will help our understanding of the Moon better and could potentially help in future lunar missions and possible human sustenance.
Related | 10 amazing facts about Chandrayaan-3
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