India’s Chandrayaan-3 mission is aiming for a landing spot on the lunar south pole, hoping to make history as the nation’s first successful touchdown on the cratered surface.
India’s space agency is gearing up for a lunar touchdown, hoping to stick the landing this time after a failed first attempt nearly four years ago.
The Luna-25 mission crashed on the surface of the Moon this weekend, ending Russia’s quest to prove it still has what it takes to land on the lunar surface.
The Russian spacecraft headed for the Moon beamed back views of its journey, showing Earth and the Moon as tiny, bright specks amidst the surrounding darkness of the cosmos.
Russia has successfully launched its Luna-25 mission to the Moon, which will attempt to land on the lunar south pole later this month. If it sticks the landing, Russia will become the first country to pull off a soft landing on the south polar region of the Moon.
Russia is getting ready to launch its first mission to the Moon in nearly fifty years in an attempt to stay relevant amidst a renewed space race.
India’s Chandrayaan-3 mission is getting closer to the Moon, gradually reducing its altitude above the celestial body’s cratered surface after entering lunar orbit.
Update: July 14, 9:17 a.m. ET: India’s LVM3 rocket blasted off from Sriharikota at 2:35 p.m. local time, sending the lander on a trajectory that will take it to the Moon.