Why in news?

• Recently, Russia launched its first moon-landing spacecraft in 47 years in a bid to be the first nation to make a soft landing on the lunar south pole.
• The Russian lunar mission, Luna-25, the first since 1976, is racing against India, which launched its Chandrayaan-3 lunar lander last month.

What’s in today’s article?

• Luna-25
• Why is Russia reaching the moon earlier than India?
• How do both the missions differ?
• Is India also in the race to land humans on moon?
• How have India and Russia collaborated on moon missions and other space activities?

Luna-25

• A Soyuz 2.1v rocket carrying the Luna-25 craft blasted off from the Vostochny cosmodrome, 5,550 kilometers east of Moscow, on August 11.
• As per Russia’s Space chief, the lander is expected to touch down on the moon on August 21.
  • India’s mission to the moon cannot land before August 23, when it will be lunar dawn at the landing site.
• Luna-25, roughly the size of a small car, will aim to operate for a year on the moon's south pole.

Why is Russia reaching the moon earlier than India?

• Luna-25 was launched aboard its Soyuz rocket almost a month after the launch of Chandrayaan-3 (on July 14). However, it will cover the 3.84-lakh-km journey within days.
• This is because the Russian mission was able to follow a more direct trajectory towards the moon, owing to its lighter payload and more fuel storage.
  • The lift-off mass for Luna 25 is just 1,750 kg as compared with the 3,900 kg of Chandrayaan-3.
• To make up for the lower fuel reserve available on the LVM3 vehicle that launched India’s mission, a more circuitous route was taken.
  • After being launched around the Earth, the orbit of the spacecraft was increased in a series of manoeuvres to help it gain velocity.
  • The spacecraft was then slingshot towards the moon, reaching the lunar orbit nearly 22 days after it was launched.
• Another reason Luna-25 can land a couple of days before India is because lunar dawn at its landing site will happen earlier.
  • One lunar day is equal to 14 Earth days. With the payloads being powered by solar panels, landing at the beginning of a lunar day ensures that the experiments get the full 14 earth days.

How do the two missions differ?

• 
• Rover
  • Apart from being lighter than the Indian mission, Luna-25 does not carry a rover. Chandrayaan-3 has a rover capable of moving around 500 metres.
• Scientific study
  • The Russian lander has eight payloads mainly to study the soil composition, dust particles in the polar exosphere, and most importantly, detect surface water.
  • The Indian mission also has scientific instruments to study the lunar soil as well as water-ice.
    • The location near the southern pole was chosen because of the presence of craters that remain in permanent shadow, increasing the likelihood of finding water-ice.
• Mission duration
  • The India mission is built to last only one lunar day or 14 earth days.
  • This is because it does not have a heating mechanism to keep the electronics safe from the extreme cold temperatures during the lunar night.
  • The Russian mission, on the other hand, will work for a year, meaning it has heating mechanism as well as a power source other than just solar panels.

Is India also in the race to land humans on moon?

• It was the discovery of water molecules by India’s Chandrayaan-1 mission in 2008 that has propelled another race to the moon.
• The United States and China now have plans to take humans to moon again; a first after the cold war era.
  • To date, only 12 men aboard US’ Apollo Missions have set foot on the lunar surface.
• India with its limited resources has been able to catch up with countries with more advanced and older space agencies.
• However, there is still a long way to go before humans can be sent to the moon.
  • India is yet to announce a sample return mission, although planning for a fourth mission to moon with Japan as a partner is underway.
    • A sample return mission refers to a space mission that is designed to land on the Moon, collect samples of lunar material and then return those samples to Earth for scientific analysis.
  • India needs to first achieve human spaceflight before sending astronauts to the moon.
  • There is a need for the space agency to develop heavier launch vehicles.
    • Currently, our heaviest launch vehicle has the capability of carrying only 4 tonnes of satellites to the geostationary Transfer Orbit.”
    • In comparison, SpaceX’ Falcon 9 can carry over 26 tonnes.

How have India and Russia collaborated on moon missions and other space activities?

• India and Russia have been long-time collaborators, especially when it comes to space activities.
• Russia was initially supposed to design the lander-rover for India’s Chandrayaan-2 mission. However, it withdrew after the failure of its Fobos Grunt mission to one of Mars’ moons.
• This then prompted India to develop the lander-rover independently.
  • This is the reason there is a gap of 11 years between the Chandrayaan-1 and Chandrayaan-2 missions.
• Also, the predecessors of the LVM3 that launched Chandrayaan-3 were based on cryogenic engines sold to India by Russia.
  • India later developed the technology on its own.