Russia Publishes the First Photos From the Luna-25 Probe

On Monday, the Space Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences (IKI RAN) published the first photos taken by the Luna-25 probe during its flight towards Earth's satellite.

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"The STS-L onboard cameras took the first photos from space, which will go down in the history of Russian cosmonautics," the IKI RAN said.

The photos show elements of the Luna-25 probe, with the Earth and the Moon in the background. In addition, a third photo shows the logo of the mission and part of the robotic arm.

The Space Research Institute also reported that the telemetric measurements have already been completed and the data from the station's scientific equipment has been received, carried out during two connection sessions at a distance of 310,000 kilometers from Earth.

"All the teams tested their full capacity for work and their willingness to investigate the Moon. Their analogue and digital knots and blocks worked perfectly," the IKI RAN reported.

Among the tests carried out was the measurement of the radioactive background, an important piece of information for the preparation of future flights to the moon.

On Thursday, Russia launched the Luna-25 probe with the mission of being the first country to land on the Moon's south pole, where it hopes to find water in the form of ice.

The Russian Luna-25 is the successor to the Soviet Luna-24, the third spacecraft to collect samples from the lunar surface in August 1976.

After it reaches lunar orbit in about three days, the Russian spacecraft will still take several days to maneuver to find the correct orbit and land north of the Boguslawski crater in an area with rugged relief and adverse conditions.

The Russian probe should touch the surface of the Moon around August 21, that is, two days before the Indian Chandrayaan-2 probe, which was launched on July 14.

The objective of the Russian mission is to develop lunar landing technology, take samples from the surface, study the upper layer of the lunar regolith, and analyze its exosphere.