Russian specialists monitoring their moon-bound unmanned spacecraft Luna-25 have switched on its scientific gear and began processing the primary knowledge.
Russia is aiming to turn out to be the primary nation to hold out a mushy touchdown on the lunar south pole – a area thought to carry pockets of water ice.
Area company Roscosmos stated in a press release on Sunday: “Luna-25 continues its flight to the Earth’s pure satellite tv for pc – all methods of the automated station are working correctly, communication with it’s secure, the vitality stability is Positive.
“The primary measurement knowledge on the flight to the moon has been obtained, and the mission’s scientific crew has begun
processing it.”
On Friday, Moscow launched the mission – its first moon-landing craft in 47 years – and is racing in opposition to India which blasted its lunar lander Chandrayaan-3 into area final month.
Luna-25, which is the scale of a small automotive, took off on board a Soyuz rocket from the Vostochny cosmodrome within the far japanese Amur area, over 3,000 miles east of Moscow.
It’s anticipated to the touch down on the moon on 21 August.
Its mission is to gather samples of rock and mud to get an understanding of the setting for a possible base.
The lander plans to function for a 12 months on the south pole, the place scientists at NASA and different area companies have in recent times detected traces of water ice within the area’s shadowed craters.
Tough terrain makes a touchdown there troublesome.
However the prize of discovering water ice could possibly be historic – as it could be used for gas and oxygen, in addition to for ingesting water.
Learn extra on Sky Information:
Virgin Galactic takes first tourists to edge of space
Why billionaires are drawn to ‘extreme tourism’
Click to subscribe to the Sky News Daily wherever you get your podcasts
US astronaut Neil Armstrong discovered fame in 1969 for being the primary particular person to stroll on the moon.
However the Soviet Union’s Luna-2 mission was the primary spacecraft to succeed in the planet’s floor in 1959, and the Luna-9 mission in 1966 was the primary to make a mushy touchdown there.
Friday’s launch marks Russia’s first lunar mission since 1976, when it was a part of the USSR.