TALLINN, Estonia (AP) 鈥 A rocket carrying a lunar landing craft blasted off Friday on Russia鈥檚 first moon mission in nearly 50 years, racing to land on Earth鈥檚 satellite ahead of an Indian spacecraft.
The launch from Russia鈥檚 Vostochny spaceport in the Far East of the Luna-25 craft to the moon is Russia鈥檚 first since 1976 when it was part of the Soviet Union.
The Russian lunar lander is expected to reach the moon on Aug. 23, about the same day as an Indian craft which was . The Russian spacecraft will take about 5.5 days to travel to the moon's vicinity, then spend three to seven days orbiting at about 100 kilometers (62 miles) before heading for the surface.
Only three governments have managed successful moon landings: the Soviet Union, the United States and China. India and Russia are aiming to be the first to land at the moon鈥檚 south pole.
Roscosmos, Russia's space agency, said it wants to show Russia 鈥渋s a state capable of delivering a payload to the moon,鈥 and 鈥渆nsure Russia鈥檚 guaranteed access to the moon鈥檚 surface.鈥
鈥淪tudy of the moon is not the goal,鈥 said Vitaly Egorov, a popular Russian space analyst. 鈥淭he goal is political competition between two superpowers 鈥 China and the USA 鈥 and a number of other countries which also want to claim the title of space superpower.鈥
Sanctions imposed on Russia after it invaded Ukraine make it harder for it to access Western technology, impacting its space program. The Luna-25 was initially meant to carry a small moon rover but that idea was abandoned to reduce the weight of the craft for improved reliability, analysts say.
鈥淔oreign electronics are lighter, domestic electronics are heavier,鈥 Egorov said. 鈥淲hile scientists might have the task of studying lunar water, for Roscosmos the main task is simply to land on the moon 鈥 to recover lost Soviet expertise and learn how to perform this task in a new era.鈥
The Luna-25 launched flawlessly from the Vostochny Cosmodrome in Russia's Far East, according to video feed from Roscosmos.
The spaceport is a of Russian President Vladimir Putin and is key to his efforts to make Russia a space superpower and move Russian launches from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
A previous at the moon鈥檚 south pole in 2019 ended when the lander crashed into the moon鈥檚 surface.
The is of particular interest to scientists, who believe the permanently shadowed polar craters may contain water. The frozen water in the rocks could be transformed by future explorers into air and rocket fuel.
鈥淭he moon is largely untouched and the whole history of the moon is written on its face,鈥 said Ed Bloomer, an astronomer at Britain's Royal Observatory, Greenwich. 鈥淚t is pristine and like nothing you get on Earth. It is its own laboratory.鈥
The Luna-25 is to take samples of moon rock and dust. The samples are crucial to understanding the moon鈥檚 environment ahead of building any base there, 鈥渙therwise we could be building things and having to shut them down six months later because everything has effectively been sand-blasted,鈥 Bloomer said.
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Burrows reported from London. Associated Press writer Marcia Dunn in Cape Canaveral, Florida, contributed to this story.
