Japan and the United States follow suit, Russia and India compete for the top rocket landing on the moon in Antarctica | Moon | Antarctica
According to the website of the Spanish newspaper El Ni ñ o on August 12th, the moon will become the "seventh continent" of Earth, a "new continent" whose wealth and resources have not yet been conquered and developed. More than half a century ago, the Soviet Union proposed this idea. As the first batch of missions to the South Pole of the Moon began, this idea was reintroduced. This time, space powers will compete for a new "lunar gold": water.
Russia plans to land its "Lunar-25" probe on the moon between August 21st and 24th, marking the country's first such mission in over 40 years. The Indian lunar probe "Lungshan-3" will land on the moon on the 23rd or 24th. These two countries will compete for first place, with a difference of only a few days or even hours.
Reuters quoted Yuri Borisov, President of the Russian National Space Group, as saying, "We hope to arrive on the 21st." The landing at the South Pole of the Moon will be fully automated, which will largely depend on whether the probe can reach the target area, which has a small slope. Borisov added, "I believe we will land smoothly and accurately, and become the first country to arrive."
Russia's main advantage is that its probe is ready to hold on to the South Pole of the Moon for a year or more. The probe will remain at its landing site, located near the Boguslavsky crater, where there is a high possibility of finding water.
On July 14th, the Indian rocket carrying "Luna 3" and on August 11th, the Russian rocket carrying "Luna 25" ignited and launched instantly. Both sides are expected to arrive on the moon on August 23rd. The Indian lunar rover, known as Chandrayaan-3, carries fewer scientific instruments and can only operate until sunset after the first lunar day. Unlike Russia, which has already achieved robot probe landings on the moon, India is emerging from the shadow of the failure of the Vikram lander. India launched the Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft in 2019, but its Vikram lander crashed while attempting a soft landing on the lunar surface. The head of the Indian Space Research Organization stated that they have learned a lesson from their mistakes and hope that this probe can successfully land at a speed similar to human walking. The biggest highlight of India's mission this time is the inclusion of a lunar rover called "Prajan", which can explore the environment near the landing site, analyze the composition of soil and rocks.
Just as Russia and India are vying for the top spot in landing on the South Pole of the Moon, Japan will also join the competition by launching its SLIM probe. This is a small probe developed by the Japanese space agency and is scheduled to be launched on August 26th. Its goal is to land in the equatorial region far from the south pole of the moon.
One of the highlights of this "lunar gold rush" will be the moon landing mission of the United States and its allies. Recently, NASA Director Bill Nelson held a press conference, seemingly in response to the successful launch of the Russian Lunar-25 probe. The main message he conveyed was that despite the explosion of SpaceX's starship rocket during its first test flight, the manned moon missions Artemis 2 and Artemis 3 are still proceeding fully as planned.
NASA also hopes to launch multiple robotic lunar missions in 2024, including a lunar rover, to pave the way for astronaut landing on the moon and the construction of its Artemis base.
