Competition to Reach the Moon: India’s Chandrayaan-3 and Russia’s Luna-25

India’s Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft has successfully decreased its orbit by 174 km x 1437 km, bringing it closer to the Moon’s surface, according to ISRO. The spacecraft is now preparing for another significant mission on August 14, which will further approach the lunar surface. In addition to India’s lunar exploration, Russia is also gearing up for its own lunar mission, scheduled for tomorrow, August 11. This marks Russia’s first attempt in 45 years, and experts speculate that both countries may have coinciding landing days.

Moon landing day

India’s Chandrayaan-3 and Luna-25 are planning to land on the Moon’s south pole because scientists believe the region may consist of unique and significant amounts of ice that can later be used for fuel and oxygen recovery, along with drinking. water. However, landing in the area is not easy due to the uneven terrain.

Russia’s Luna-25 will take off tomorrow from the Vostochny Cosmodrome 5,550 kilometers east of Moscow and take five days to fly to the moon. According to Reuters, it spends 7 days in lunar orbit. Now, the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft will land on the Moon’s surface on August 23, which may also conflict with the Russian spacecraft’s landing date.

Will the two spaceships become a problem for each other?

Roscosmos has made it clear that the two spacecraft will not get in each other’s path because they both have different landing zones. Reuters quoted: “There is no danger of them interfering with each other or colliding. There is enough space on the moon for everyone.”

These two missions have different goals and times to explore the surface of the Moon. The Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft will spend one lunar day on the Moon (14 days on Earth), but Luna-25 will continue its exploration for a year to find 6 inches of frozen water below the Moon’s surface that could support human life. Russia’s Moon mission was previously planned for October 2021, but was delayed by two years.