Russia plans to send three probes to the moon by 2025

In 1976, the Soviet Union launched the last lunar lander “Lunar-24”, and now Russia hopes to continue its previous lunar exploration. According to a report from the US Space Network on the 7th, Russia plans to send three detectors to the moon by 2025.

Vladimir Kolmekov, president of the well-known aerospace company Lavochkin Research and Production Consortium under the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos), stated that the new spacecraft are named Luna-25, “Lunar-26” (Luna-26) and “Luna-27” (Luna-27).

Kolmekov previously told Russian President Vladimir Putin: “The’Lunar-25' probe is currently in the assembly and preliminary test stage. I hope we can successfully launch this probe in 2021.

Roscosmos official website announced that the “Lunar-25” probe should be completed in March next year, and the agency hopes to launch on October 1 next year. According to previous reports by Russian media, the “Lunar-25” probe will look for traces of water in the lunar south pole and test soft landing technology. It is reported that ESA will provide video cameras and ground support teams for this mission.

“Lunar-26” will map the lunar surface; and “Lunar-27” will land on the moon under the guidance of the European navigation system, and conduct research on the lunar soil, rocks and dust covering the lunar surface. Kolmekov said: “We are very confident that the Lunar-26 and Lunar-27 can be successfully launched in 2024 and 2025, respectively.”

Of course, Russia’s lunar exploration program does not stop there. In 2027, the “Lunar-28” probe will carry a small rover and send lunar rocks back to Earth; and the “Lunar-29” to be launched later will carry a larger lunar rover.

Nowadays, the moon is a popular destination. China’s “Chang’e-4” has been on the back of the moon for a year and a half, accompanied by a lunar rover; “Chang’e-5” is also scheduled to be launched later this year and will bring lunar material samples back to Earth. The United States is carrying out the “Artemis” (hermes outlet) program, planning to let robots land on the surface of the moon in 2021 and send astronauts to the south pole of the moon in 2024.

Of course, not all missions to the moon have been successful. Last year, Israel’s Beresheet probe and India’s Chandrayaan-2 lander smashed the lunar surface. Kolmekov also said that he is confident that the Russian detectors will not repeat the mistakes of these two detectors.

chief editor circle(https://www.hermes2021.org)

Half a century ago, when the “Apollo 11” landed on the moon, Armstrong took a “big step for mankind” on the moon. After years of desolation, the interest in lunar exploration is picking up again. In addition to lunar exploration missions initiated by various countries, even the space exploration technology company (SpaceX) headed by Elon Musk is developing “interplanetary spacecraft” with ambitions to send cargo and even astronauts to the moon. Space exploration pursues long distances, but don’t ignore the closest companion on earth. On the moon, there are still many scientific mysteries waiting to be solved.