Russian spacecraft Lunar 25 launched successully, first lunar attempt for Russia since 1976
Visit our website:
http://www.france24.com
Like us on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/FRANCE24.English
Follow us on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/France24_en
Transcript
00:00 In the cloudy skies of southern Siberia, Russia launches its first moon mission in almost
00:06 five decades.
00:07 On board the Soyuz rocket is the Lunar-25 spacecraft, which Moscow hopes will be the
00:13 first ever to land on the lunar south pole.
00:16 It's a test for Russia's space program, after many Western sanctions over the war in Ukraine
00:22 impacted the country's aerospace sector.
00:25 Western sanctions imposed on Russia prevented them access to very high performance micro-electronic
00:31 components which they need for their spacecraft.
00:34 So this particular spaceship, Lunar-25, actually had European instrumentation originally scheduled
00:41 for it.
00:42 When the invasion happened, the Europeans pulled out their stuff.
00:45 So they've had to really rejig the whole thing and make it workable.
00:51 Lunar-25 is due to touch down on the moon around August 21st.
00:55 Over the next year it will be tasked with collecting samples of moon rock and dust and
01:00 conducting research.
01:02 The lunar south pole is of particular interest to scientists, with the region believed to
01:07 hold coveted pockets of water ice.
01:09 Last month, India launched its Chadrayan-3 spacecraft on a mission to the moon's south
01:14 pole after a previous attempt failed in 2019.
01:19 Meanwhile the US and China both have advanced exploration programs targeting the lunar south