MOSCOW (AFP) – Moscow’s Luna-25 lander is due to reach the moon’s orbit, in the first such Russian mission in almost 50 years, according to the schedule of space agency Roscosmos.
With the lunar launch, Moscow’s first since 1976, Russia is seeking to restart and rebuild on the Soviet Union’s pioneering space programme.
The lander is set to revolve 100 kilometres above the moon’s surface, before a planned landing on Monday north of the Boguslawsky crater on the lunar south pole.
Cameras installed on the lander have already taken distant shots of the earth and moon from space, Roscosmos said.
The lander, weighing around 800 kilogrammes, was carried into space by a Soyuz rocket launched last Friday from the Vostochny cosmodrome in Russia’s Far East.
It is due to stay on the moon for a year, where it is tasked with collecting samples and analysing soil.
