Launched aboard a Soyuz-2 Fregat rocket, Luna 25 took flight at 8:10 am (local time) on Friday, CNN reported
The Fregat booster separated from the rocket's third stage approximately 564 seconds after the launch, according to TASS reported. The Luna-25 spacecraft will separate from the booster about an hour after the launch. The flight to the moon will take up to 5.5 days
The spacecraft will spend between three and seven days about 100 kilometres above the lunar surface before reaching the Boguslawsky crater area. Meanwhile, Manzinus and Pentland-A craters have been named as alternative landing sites
The primary goal of the mission will be to polish the soft landing technology. The mission might become the first spacecraft ever to reach near the South Pole of the Earth's natural satellite, according to TASS
The spacecraft will look for natural resources, including water, and analyse the effects of space rays and electromagnetic emissions on the lunar surface. Luna 25, also called the Luna-Glob-Lander, will study the composition of the moon's polar soil and the plasma and dust contained in the very thin lunar exosphere, or the moon's scant atmosphere, for one year
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