Today's Headlines - 12 August 2023
Russia’s Luna-25 mission
GS Paper - 3 (Space Technology)
As the Chandrayaan-3 mission tightens its orbit around the Moon, Russia was launched its first moon-landing spacecraft in 47 years on 11 August 2023. The Luna-25 mission is scheduled to land on the Moon on 23 August 2023, the same day as Chandrayaan-3’s planned landing.
More about Luna-25
Luna-25 was launched from the Vosthochny cosmodrome in the Russian Far East less than a month after Chandrayaan-3 launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Center in Sriharikota.
The Russian mission will try to land on the lunar South Pole just like the Indian mission, aiming for a prized destination that may hold significant quantities of ice that could be used to extract oxygen and fuel in the future.
If either of the missions succeeds before the other, it will be the first one to land on the lunar South Pole in human history.
Roscosmos, Russia’s ISRO counterparts said that Luna-25 will practice soft-landing, analyse soil samples and conduct long-term scientific research on the Moon’s surface.
The Chandrayaan-3 mission is carrying an orbiter, a lander and a rover. The lander and rover are carrying many scientific payloads.
This is Russia’s first lunar mission since 1976 when the country was part of the Soviet Union and it will be completed without equipment from the European Space Agency (ESA). ESA ended its cooperation with Roscosmos after Russia invaded Ukraine.
Luna-25 has a mass of 1.8 tons and carries 31 kilograms of scientific equipment, including some that it will use to take rock samples from up to a depth of 15 centimetres to test for the presence of water that could be used to support future crewed missions to the Moon.
The mission was originally scheduled to launch in October 2021 but was marred by many delays.
The Russian mission will take a lot less time to reach the Moon than Chandrayaan-3 because the latter is taking a longer route that takes advantage of the gravities of the Earth and the Moon to use a lot less fuel.
Russia willevacuate villagers from a village near the launch site due to a “one in a million chance” that one of the rocket stages that launches could fall to the Earth there.
#upsc #news #headline #russia #luna #mission #space #technology #chandrayaan #moon #spacecraft #vosthochny #cosmodrome #lunar #southpole #indianmission #oxygen #soil #history #land #human #orbiter #ESA #launch #gravaities #earth #october #rover #ISRO #fuel
Russia’s Luna-25 mission
GS Paper - 3 (Space Technology)
As the Chandrayaan-3 mission tightens its orbit around the Moon, Russia was launched its first moon-landing spacecraft in 47 years on 11 August 2023. The Luna-25 mission is scheduled to land on the Moon on 23 August 2023, the same day as Chandrayaan-3’s planned landing.
More about Luna-25
Luna-25 was launched from the Vosthochny cosmodrome in the Russian Far East less than a month after Chandrayaan-3 launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Center in Sriharikota.
The Russian mission will try to land on the lunar South Pole just like the Indian mission, aiming for a prized destination that may hold significant quantities of ice that could be used to extract oxygen and fuel in the future.
If either of the missions succeeds before the other, it will be the first one to land on the lunar South Pole in human history.
Roscosmos, Russia’s ISRO counterparts said that Luna-25 will practice soft-landing, analyse soil samples and conduct long-term scientific research on the Moon’s surface.
The Chandrayaan-3 mission is carrying an orbiter, a lander and a rover. The lander and rover are carrying many scientific payloads.
This is Russia’s first lunar mission since 1976 when the country was part of the Soviet Union and it will be completed without equipment from the European Space Agency (ESA). ESA ended its cooperation with Roscosmos after Russia invaded Ukraine.
Luna-25 has a mass of 1.8 tons and carries 31 kilograms of scientific equipment, including some that it will use to take rock samples from up to a depth of 15 centimetres to test for the presence of water that could be used to support future crewed missions to the Moon.
The mission was originally scheduled to launch in October 2021 but was marred by many delays.
The Russian mission will take a lot less time to reach the Moon than Chandrayaan-3 because the latter is taking a longer route that takes advantage of the gravities of the Earth and the Moon to use a lot less fuel.
Russia willevacuate villagers from a village near the launch site due to a “one in a million chance” that one of the rocket stages that launches could fall to the Earth there.
#upsc #news #headline #russia #luna #mission #space #technology #chandrayaan #moon #spacecraft #vosthochny #cosmodrome #lunar #southpole #indianmission #oxygen #soil #history #land #human #orbiter #ESA #launch #gravaities #earth #october #rover #ISRO #fuel
Today's Headlines - 21 August 2023
Russia’s Luna-25 crashes
GS Paper - 3 (Space Technology)
Russia’s Moon mission ended in failure after its spacecraft Luna-25 spun out of control and crashed into the moon, Russian space agency Roscosmos said on 20 August 2023.
What happened to Luna-25?
Luna-25 was supposed to land on the Moon on 21 August 2023, days ahead of India’s Chandrayaan-3. Its intended landing site was close to Chandrayaan-3’s, near the lunar south pole.
The crash was confirmed a day after Roscosmos reported an “abnormal situation” which its specialists were analysing.
The space agency had said on 19 August 2023 that it had lost contact with the aircraft as it was shunted into pre-landing orbit.
On 19 August 2023, in accordance with the flight program of the Luna-25 spacecraft, an impulse was provided for the formation of its pre-landing elliptical orbit.
Communication with the Luna-25 spacecraft was interrupted. The measures taken on 19 and 20 August 2023 to search for the device and get into contact with it did not produce any results. According to the results of the preliminary analysis, due to the deviation of the actual parameters of the impulse from the calculated ones, the device switched to an off-design orbit and ceased to exist as a result of a collision with the lunar surface, Roscosmos said.
The space agency also said, A specially formed interdepartmental commission will deal with the issues of clarifying the reasons for the loss of the Moon [mission].
What was the Luna-25 mission?
Although launched on 10 August 2023, almost a month after Chandrayaan-3’s launch on 14 July, Luna-25 rode on a powerful rocket to reach the lunar orbit in just six days.
It was supposed to land on the lunar South Pole before Chandrayaan-3, and its success would have made Russia the first country to do so. Luna-25’s mission life was for one year, and its lift-off mass was 1,750 kg.
It did not carry a rover, but had eight payloads mainly to study the soil composition, dust particles in the polar exosphere, and most importantly detect surface water on the moon.
Significance
The failure of Luna-25 underlines how tricky soft-landings on the Moon are, and echoes India’s heartbreak of 2019.
Since 1976, there has been just one country, China, which has been successful in getting its spacecraft to soft land on the moon.
It has done that twice, with Chang’e 3 and Chang’e 4. All other attempts in the last ten years, by India, Israel, Japan and now Russia, have remained unsuccessful.
If Chandrayaan-3 is able to land successfully, India would become just the fourth country in the world, after the United States, the erstwhile Soviet Union and China, to have landed a spacecraft on moon, and the first-ever to land close to the lunar south pole.
#upsc #news #headline #Russia #luna #crashes #space #technology #moonmission #failure #spacecraft #india #chandrayaan #aircraft #southpole #flight #situation #interdepartmental #comission #reasons #orbit #firstcountry #soilcomposition #particles #polar #exosphere #israel #japan #softland #world #india #states #soviet #china #southpole #rocket #collision #agency
Russia’s Luna-25 crashes
GS Paper - 3 (Space Technology)
Russia’s Moon mission ended in failure after its spacecraft Luna-25 spun out of control and crashed into the moon, Russian space agency Roscosmos said on 20 August 2023.
What happened to Luna-25?
Luna-25 was supposed to land on the Moon on 21 August 2023, days ahead of India’s Chandrayaan-3. Its intended landing site was close to Chandrayaan-3’s, near the lunar south pole.
The crash was confirmed a day after Roscosmos reported an “abnormal situation” which its specialists were analysing.
The space agency had said on 19 August 2023 that it had lost contact with the aircraft as it was shunted into pre-landing orbit.
On 19 August 2023, in accordance with the flight program of the Luna-25 spacecraft, an impulse was provided for the formation of its pre-landing elliptical orbit.
Communication with the Luna-25 spacecraft was interrupted. The measures taken on 19 and 20 August 2023 to search for the device and get into contact with it did not produce any results. According to the results of the preliminary analysis, due to the deviation of the actual parameters of the impulse from the calculated ones, the device switched to an off-design orbit and ceased to exist as a result of a collision with the lunar surface, Roscosmos said.
The space agency also said, A specially formed interdepartmental commission will deal with the issues of clarifying the reasons for the loss of the Moon [mission].
What was the Luna-25 mission?
Although launched on 10 August 2023, almost a month after Chandrayaan-3’s launch on 14 July, Luna-25 rode on a powerful rocket to reach the lunar orbit in just six days.
It was supposed to land on the lunar South Pole before Chandrayaan-3, and its success would have made Russia the first country to do so. Luna-25’s mission life was for one year, and its lift-off mass was 1,750 kg.
It did not carry a rover, but had eight payloads mainly to study the soil composition, dust particles in the polar exosphere, and most importantly detect surface water on the moon.
Significance
The failure of Luna-25 underlines how tricky soft-landings on the Moon are, and echoes India’s heartbreak of 2019.
Since 1976, there has been just one country, China, which has been successful in getting its spacecraft to soft land on the moon.
It has done that twice, with Chang’e 3 and Chang’e 4. All other attempts in the last ten years, by India, Israel, Japan and now Russia, have remained unsuccessful.
If Chandrayaan-3 is able to land successfully, India would become just the fourth country in the world, after the United States, the erstwhile Soviet Union and China, to have landed a spacecraft on moon, and the first-ever to land close to the lunar south pole.
#upsc #news #headline #Russia #luna #crashes #space #technology #moonmission #failure #spacecraft #india #chandrayaan #aircraft #southpole #flight #situation #interdepartmental #comission #reasons #orbit #firstcountry #soilcomposition #particles #polar #exosphere #israel #japan #softland #world #india #states #soviet #china #southpole #rocket #collision #agency