The India-China Space Mission to Luna-25: Landing an Orbiter On The Moon’s South Pole After the Russia-Russia Launch of Luna-25

The Indian people and government feel great pride for their nation’s surging space program. The same region of the moon where the Russia was to land Luna-25 was the scene of a crash on Saturday, which has intensified the stakes for Wednesday. If India lands before Russia, it will highlight the technological accomplishments of the world’s largest country.

Excited and anxious, people across India, home to the world’s largest population, crowded around televisions in offices, shops, restaurants and homes. Thousands prayed Tuesday for the success of the mission with oil lamps on the river banks, temples and religious places, including the holy city of Varanasi in northern India.

The landing was not assisted by ground intervention. The craft’s autonomous landing system took control about one hour before the start of the descent. India’s space agency, the Indian Space Research Organization, or ISRO, broadcasted live in Hindi and English.

Many countries are interested in the south pole region due to the permanently shadowed craters that may hold frozen water that could be used to help future astronauts.

The six-wheeled lander and rover module of Chandrayaan-3 is configured with payloads that would provide data to the scientific community on the properties of lunar soil and rocks, including chemical and elemental compositions.

India’s previous attempt to land a robotic spacecraft near the moon’s south pole ended in failure. It entered the lunar orbit but lost touch with its lander, which crashed while making its final descent to deploy a rover to search for signs of water. The crash was blamed on a software glitch according to the failure analysis report.

The $140-million mission in 2019 was intended to study permanently shadowed moon craters that are thought to contain water deposits and were confirmed by India’s Chandrayaan-1 orbiter mission in 2008.

The anticipation for a successful landing rose after Russia’s failed attempt and as India’s regional rival China reaches for new milestones in space. In May, China launched a three-person crew for its orbiting space station and hopes to put astronauts on the moon before the end of the decade. Relations between India and China have plunged since deadly border clashes in 2020.

Numerous countries and private companies are racing to successfully land a spacecraft on the lunar surface. In April, a Japanese company’s spacecraft apparently crashed while attempting to land on the moon. The Israeli nonprofit attempted to do the same thing, but its craft was destroyed on impact.

One of two US companies are vying to place a landers on the moon by the end of the year, and Japan is planning to launch a lunar lander this weekend as part of a X-ray telescope mission. In the coming years, NASA plans to land astronauts at the lunar south pole, taking advantage of the frozen water in craters.

The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) news release on Thursday: Launching of the Luna-25 lander near the impact crater on August 23

India’s space program is a source of national pride, as is the country’s growing cadre of commercial space start-ups. The country is attempting to become an ambitious power with its diplomatic push and space exploration efforts.

The moon is in an elliptical circle, which means the landers swings as close as 15 miles above the surface. On Wednesday at around 8:14 a.m. Eastern time, ISRO says the spacecraft will fire its engines to bring itself out of orbit and begin a descent to the surface. The engines will further brake its fall, to help it achieve a soft landing.

The Indian Space Research Organization will provide a live stream from the mission control room in Bengaluru. You can watch it on its website, or on its YouTube channel. The Eastern time zone.

The August 23 landing was chosen because it is the day when the sun will rise at the landing site. When the sun sets the mission will be over. While on the surface, the solar-powered lander and rover will use a range of instruments to make thermal, seismic and mineralogical measurements.

But Russia’s Luna-25 lander wasn’t so lucky. The craft appears to have crashed while preparing for a landing the next day after it malfunctioned. Russia’s space agency intended to put Luna 25 near the impact crater in order to examine the regolith and pockets of water ice.

The power descent phase began at about 8:15 am ET, during which time the craft’s speed slowed from 1,680 to 358 meters per second, and the altitude dropped from 30 to 7.4 kilometers over a period of 11.5 minutes. For 10 seconds the craft turned its instruments to see how far from the regolith it was. The fine braking phrase ran for nearly 3 minutes when the altitude was reduced to 800 meters.

The vertical descent phase began around 8:29 am Eastern time, and the craft began its approach to the lunar surface, turning to orient its four legs towards the landing site. It briefly hovered 150 meters above the surface as the craft’s sensors took readings of the safety of the landing site and re-targeted accordingly. Then, as it successfully set down on the regolith, the people in ISRO mission control headquarters in Bengaluru broke into cheers. “India is on the moon!” exclaimed ISRO chairman Vikram Sarabhai. Sarabhai asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to speak. “Friends, on this joyous occasion I would like to address all the people of the world, the people of every country and region. India’s successful moon mission is not just India’s alone,” said Modi, during a part of the address delivered in English. “This success belongs to all of humanity and it will help moon missions by other countries in the future. I’m positive that all countries in the world can do that, including those from the global south. We can all aspire for the moon and beyond.”