By 
July 18th, 2023
Image credit: Roscosmos
Russia’s Luna-25 robotic Moon lander continues to make preparations for its launch from the Vostochny cosmodrome.
Recently, electrical and other spacecraft checkouts were carried out (from July 12 to July 16) with Russia’s Roscosmos adding that “the results are positive and without any comments!”
Liftoff of Luna-25 by a Soyuz-2.1b rocket with a Fregat upper stage is scheduled for August.
Luna-25 is Russia’s re-rendezvous with Moon exploration, picking up where the former Soviet Union left off in 1976.
South pole landing
The spacecraft is to try out technology for soft landing, take and analyze the soil and conduct other scientific research, as well as study the upper layer of the surface regolith in the region of the south pole of the Moon, as well as the lunar exosphere.
Image credit: Roscosmos
In terms of landing, Luna-25 is fundamentally different from its predecessors. Former Soviet lunar stations landed on the Moon in the equatorial zone. The new station should gently plop down on the Moon “in the circumpolar region with complex terrain,” notes Roscosmos.
Image credit: Roscosmos
Public poll
Meanwhile, a public poll has been taken to give a name to the talisman and its magical powers. Out of three top candidates, “Moon”; “Fox”; and “Sonata” are in the running, with “Sonata” in the lead, according to a Roscosmos Telegraph posting.
For more information on this upcoming mission, go to my new Space.com story “Russia’s Luna-25 moon lander reaches launch site for a reported August 11 liftoff” at:
https://www.space.com/russia-moon-mission-luna-25-at-launch-site
Posted in Space News
