Russia Launches First Lunar Mission in 47 Years
On Friday, Russia launched the Luna-25 craft into space from the Vostochny Cosmodrome in the Far East — its first mission to the moon in nearly 50 years.
Facts
- On Friday, Russia launched the Luna-25 craft into space from the Vostochny Cosmodrome in the Far East — its first mission to the moon in nearly 50 years.1
- The Luna-25 craft is reportedly racing to land on the moon’s south pole ahead of India’s Chandrayaan-3, which is expected to reach the lunar surface on Aug. 23.2
- Russia’s last lunar lander, the Luna-24, landed on the moon on Aug. 18, 1976, when it was part of the Soviet Union.3
- The launch of Luna-25 was delayed for nearly two years primarily due to Western sanctions over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the cancelation of collaborative space projects with the European Space Agency.4
- According to Russia’s space agency Roscosmos, the lander — expected to reach lunar orbit in five days — is slated to touch down on the moon on Aug. 21.5
- The mission — a test of Russia’s ability to operate in the aerospace sector independent from the West — will reportedly work on the moon’s south pole for a year and collect rock samples from a depth of up to 15 cm (6 inches) to test for the presence of frozen water.5
Sources: 1Al Jazeera, 2Associated Press, 3CNN, 4Space, and 5Reuters.
Narratives
- Pro-Russia narrative, as provided by RT. With the launch of the Luna-25 mission, Russia is returning to the space race. Moscow has a rich history of lunar exploration, and it’s getting ahead of its rivals in the search for valuable resources like lunar water. Russia is showing that it can successfully operate the world’s most successful lunar operation, and Friday’s launch is just the beginning.
- Anti-Russia narrative, as provided by Wall Street Journal. While Russia deserves some credit for its ambition, it has many challenges to overcome to demonstrate that it can successfully maintain a robust lunar program and show the world it’s still a superpower after being entirely shunned by the West for invading Ukraine. Russia is harkening back to its Soviet days, but it remains to be seen if it can be an aerospace superpower in the modern age.