Russia’s Luna

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Russia's lunar lander Luna-25 entered the circular polar orbit around the Moon on Wednesday and became its artificial satellite.

Luna-25 will circle the moon, the earth's only natural satellite, for around 5 days, then change course for a soft landing on the lunar south pole planned for August 21.

Luna-25 is Russia's first moon mission since Luna-24 in 1976. Luna-25 was launched on August 11 from the Vostochny Cosmodrome in Russia's far eastern Amur Region.

On August 15, Luna-25 successfully captured and transmitted its first images from space. The black-and-white photo collection showcases the Russian flag and mission patch on the spacecraft's structure, along with striking images of Earth and the moon.

The Luna-25 mission aims to study the composition of the moon's surface and the plasma and dust that make up its thin atmosphere over a year-long expedition. A key objective of the mission is to search below the lunar surface for water ice.

Luna-25 now joins India's Chandrayaan-3, launched on July 14, in orbiting around the Moon. On Wednesday, August 16, Chandrayaan-3 successfully completed a crucial firing operation, placing it into an orbit of 153 km x 163 km around the Moon.