Russia will send the first mission to the South Pole of the Moon

The launch of the first mission of the Russian lunar exploration program is scheduled for August 11. The Soyuz-2.1b carrier rocket with the Fregat upper stage and the Luna-25 automatic station will depart from the Vostochny cosmodrome at 2:10:57 Moscow time. The flight according to the regular program will take from four and a half to five and a half days. The station will spend three to seven days in orbit, preparing for a soft landing. The landing site was an area in the southern polar region of the Moon, north of the Boguslavsky crater. This is the first expedition to the lunar pole, all Soviet lunar stations landed in the equatorial zone.

Structurally, the Luna-25 automatic station consists of two main parts: the lower one is the landing platform, the upper one is an unpressurized instrument container. On board the station are about 31 kg of various scientific equipment designed to study the lunar regolith and exosphere. It is equipped with a lunar manipulator capable of excavating the soil and taking samples of it. The duration of scientific work is 1 year.

The last Soviet mission, Luna-24, was sent in 1976 and delivered 170 g of lunar soil to earth. Luna-25 is faced with the task of developing soft landing technology and conducting priority scientific research. Further launches of the Luna-26, Luna-27 and Luna-28 stations are planned, which will perform more complex scientific tasks. The latter, in particular, will have to deliver samples of the lunar polar substance to Earth.