Luna-25 pre-landing orbit delayed due to emergency: Roscosmos
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The Luna-25 pre-landing orbit has been delayed, and Roscosmos did not say if the incident would delay the landing scheduled for Monday.
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In this photo released by Roscosmos State Space Corporation, the Soyuz-2.1b rocket with the moon lander Luna 25 automatic station is set at a launch pad at the Vostochny Cosmodrome in the Russian Far East on Tuesday, Aug. 8, 2023. (AP)
An onboard emergency on Russia's Luna-25 module hindered its planned shift to the pre-landing orbit with defined parameters, announced Russian state space corporation Roscosmos.
The incident took place at 2:10 p.m. [11:10 GMT] during an attempt to execute the orbital shift as per the Luna-25 flight plan. Specialists are currently evaluating the situation, as stated in a Roscosmos release.
Roscosmos released a statement Friday detailing how "At 09:20 Moscow time (06:20 GMT), the module's propulsion system conducted trajectory correction in 40 seconds.It aims to ensure the best possible conditions for the subsequent construction of the landing trajectory," confirming that the correction proceeded as planned, that all of the module's systems are functioning, and that contact with the station is steady.
Despite sanctions, in the early hours of August 11 morning, Roscosmos launched the country's first lunar mission in over half a century as an ambitious play in the race to establish a lunar base.
It is also the first mission in Russia's independent space history.
The module entered a low orbit around 100 kilometers (62.13 miles) above the lunar surface on August 16.
The Luna-25 mission from Russia has been sent to investigate the lunar south pole, where experts believe there is a vast supply of water trapped in ice in the continuous shade of mountain peaks.
The last time a lunar mission was carried out was during the Soviet era, in 1976, with the launch of Luna-24 into orbit.
The mission is conducted within the framework of the Russian lunar program for the purpose of exploring the moon and its orbit, as well as establishing a fully automated lunar base.
August 21 is the expected date when Luna-25 will become the first station to make a soft landing on the lunar south pole with difficult terrain.
