For the first time in modern history, Russia launched an interplanetary station to the Moon

For the first time since 1976, Russia sent the Luna-25 interplanetary automatic station to the Moon. The launch of the Soyuz-2.1b launch vehicle took place on the night of August 11 from the Vostochny Cosmodrome in the Amur Region.

According to the head of Roscosmos, Yuri Borisov, on August 21 the station will make a soft landing in the southern polar region of the Moon north of the Boguslavsky crater. After that, she will collect scientific data. The main task is to find ice. The station's operating life is one year.

The Soviet automatic station Luna-24 was launched in 1976. Then she delivered 170 grams of lunar soil to Earth. After studying the samples, scientists suggested that they may contain water at a concentration of 0.1% by weight.

A few days ago, the Indian space agency announced that it had launched the unmanned space station Chandrayaan-3 into lunar orbit. She will also explore the South Pole. The station's landing is scheduled for August 23–24.

an hour before the launch of the station Residents of the Shakhtinsky village were evacuated . This was necessary because rocket stages could fall on a populated area. People have already been allowed to return to their homes.

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