Leonard David's INSIDE OUTER SPACE

Image credit: Roscosmos

Russia’s Moon lander, the Luna-25, has entered lunar orbit.

Thanks to the spacecraft’s corrective braking engine, one propulsive burn lasted 243 seconds, the second nudge, by soft landing engines, lasted 76 seconds.

The craft is now in Moon orbit, nearing the time for its attempted landing on the lunar surface.

Onboard camera shows spacecraft emblem and the bucket of the LMK lunar manipulator complex, visible (top left). Image credit: IKI RAS

Functioning normally

Roscosmos reports that “all Luna-25 systems are functioning normally, communication with it is stable. Sessions are being taken to measure the current navigational parameters.”

As noted by the Scientific and Production Association named after S.A. Lavochkin (part of the Roscosmos State Corporation), Luna-25 was sent to the natural satellite of the Earth for the first time in the modern history of Russia.

Tricky terrain

“As part of the mission, it is necessary to work out the technology of soft landing, take and analyze the soil and conduct long-term scientific research, including the study of the upper layer of the surface regolith in the region of the south pole of the Moon, as well as the lunar exosphere,” a Lavochkin statement explains.

Pre-launch photo of the LMK lunar manipulator complex.
Image credit: Roskosmos State Corporation, Vostochny CC and Yuzhny CC

In terms of landing, Luna-25 is fundamentally different from its predecessors.

The former Soviet Union lunar stations landed in the equatorial zone of the Moon. This new lander is to perform a soft landing in the circumpolar region with a much more complex terrain.

Image credit: NPO Lavochkin/Roscosmos

Landing targets

A reported landing date of the craft on the Moon is August 21.

Primary target for touchdown is north of the crater Boguslawsky. There are two “reserve areas” – southwest of the Manzini crater and south of Pentland A crater.

Lunar-25 is declared to have an active life on the surface of the Moon of at least one Earth year.