Russia announced today, Monday, that it intends to launch a mission to the moon on Friday, after being repeatedly delayed, for the first time in nearly 50 years.
Before the first Russian flight to the moon since 1976, the Russian Space Agency (Roscosmos) said, “A Soyuz (rocket) was assembled to launch the Luna-25 (landing vehicle),” noting that “the launch will take place on August 11 at 02:10.” :57 Moscow time (23:10:57 GMT Thursday).
Roscosmos said the Soyuz launch rocket had been “assembled” at the Vostochny launch pad in the Far East to launch Luna-25, which will land near the moon’s south pole “in a rough terrain”.
The trip is expected to take between “four and a half and five and a half days,” according to data published by Roscosmos and reported by the official Russian news agency, Tass.
The Russian Space Agency announced, in its official statement, that once it reaches the moon, the “Luna-25” mission, which weighs 800 kilograms, will be for at least a year “taking soil samples, analyzing them and conducting long-term scientific research.”
This launch is the first mission for the new Russian programme.
The last space mission of the Soviet Union was that of the Luna-24 space probe in 1976.
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