Why are Russia, India, Japan, and other countries competing to explore the South Pole of the Moon? Plan | Russia | Moon

"This is a small step for me, but a big step for humanity." More than half a century later, the moon once again became another "hot spot" in human aviation exploration.

According to Russian media reports, on August 11th local time, the Russian Soyuz-2.1b carrier rocket carrying the unmanned lunar probe Lunar-25 successfully took off from a space launch site in the Amur region in the east.

Moon-25 is the first lunar exploration project conducted in modern Russian history, indicating the official launch of Russia's lunar exploration program.

Of course, Russia is not the only country currently interested in lunar exploration. India launched its own lunar probe in mid July. In late August, Japan will also challenge the launch of a lunar probe. Currently, apart from Russia, only the United States and China have successfully sent probes to the surface of the moon.

Wei Jinshen, Associate Professor of the School of Political and International Relations at Lanzhou University, believes that the current launch of a lunar spacecraft by Russia after 47 years is of great significance. "Firstly, it is to showcase Russia's technological strength in the field of space, further expanding Russia's position and influence in the international space industry. Secondly, the launch of a lunar spacecraft is an important component of Russia's lunar exploration, and this launch has significant scientific significance." He told a reporter from First Financial News, "Russia also hopes to take this opportunity to rally people's hearts and boost morale."

Russian lunar probe launch

Why is the South Pole of the Moon important?

On this trip, Russia's "Moon-25" mission has three main objectives: the development of soft landing technology; Research on the internal structure of the lunar polar region and exploration of natural resources such as water; Study the effects of cosmic rays and electromagnetic radiation on the lunar surface.

According to the information released by the Russian side, according to the plan, "Luna 25" will enter near lunar orbit on August 16, and then change from an elliptical orbit to a near circular orbit in 5 days, and carry out a soft landing on the moon on August 21. If the landing is successful, Russia's Lunar-25 will become the world's first probe to achieve a soft landing in the South Pole region of the Moon.

In the above-mentioned lunar landing activities, India has taken the lead. On July 14th, India launched the "Luna 3" lunar probe, which is currently undergoing its fifth orbit ascent. It is estimated that the Earth Moon orbit will transfer towards the moon on August 1st and enter the lunar orbit after August 21st, after which the lander and thruster will separate. According to estimates from the Indian Space Research Organization, the Lunar Ship 3 spacecraft will land on the moon on August 23rd.

Natan Esmont, a senior researcher at the Institute of Space Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, believes that if everything goes smoothly, the Russian Lunar-25 probe will land at the South Pole of the Moon a few days earlier than India's.

What kind of area is the South Pole of the Moon? Why do Russia and India strive to become the first countries to land on the South Pole of the Moon? Wang Yanan, an aviation expert at Beihang University and editor in chief of "Aviation Knowledge", told First Financial News that previous scientific research, including astronomical and geological studies, has shown that there may be a large amount of water ice in the South Pole of the Moon. "The water resources in that area are very large, which can support future humans to establish permanent scientific research bases in this area, or support humans to use water to extract hydrogen and oxygen as fuel for rockets. There is also hope that these fuels can be used in the future to use the Moon as a base to go further into deep space. Therefore, the research value of the Moon and its value as a supply station for humans to enter deep space are now unprecedentedly increased. This is also one reason why the South Pole of the Moon is gradually warming in the eyes of the scientific research community."

According to American media reports, previous human lunar exploration mainly focused on exploring the lunar surface facing Earth, with exploration of the lunar poles and the far side of the moon being mostly in a blank or rare stage; In recent years, lunar water ice has been a hot topic of research in various countries, and many countries have made efforts to carry out related exploration missions in the southern region of the moon.

Wang Yanan stated that not only India, Russia, Japan, and China will shift their focus on the next phase of Chang'e exploration to the south pole of the moon.

Russia and India compete to travel to the moon

The last time Russia launched a lunar probe can be traced back to the Soviet era. In 1976, the Soviet Union's last automatic lunar probe, Luna-24, transported back lunar soil samples to Earth.

Wang Yanan believes that after inheriting the mantle of the Soviet Union, Russia has accumulated rich technological expertise in lunar exploration. "Now it seems that Russia's mission process is faster than India's, and 'Moon-25' has full potential to become the first Antarctic probe to land on the moon."

Wei Jinshen told First Financial reporters that Russia's aerospace industry originated during the Soviet era and has been developing independently for a long time, with low dependence on US and European technology. He analyzed, "Russia has advanced rocket technology and spacecraft design capabilities, as well as rich experience in manned spaceflight and rocket launches. Influenced by Western sanctions, it is almost impossible for Russia to participate in international cooperation in the aerospace field. However, the Russian government and society attach great importance to the development of the aerospace industry, considering it an important part of Russia's technological innovation, which has laid a solid foundation for the development of Russia's aerospace technology."

The Soviet Union's space capabilities are beyond doubt. The first artificial satellite, the first animal astronaut, and the first human astronaut all came from the Soviet Union. The United States has always relied on Russia's Soyuz spacecraft to land on the International Space Station, but its first moon landing was preempted by the United States.

Wang Yanan told First Financial that the Soviet Union was able to complete the lunar surface sampling mission in 1976, indicating that the Soviet Union's technology in the space field was still very strong. "Since then, the focus of the United States and the Soviet Union in the space field has shifted, which is not a problem of capability. At that time, the exploration of the moon by both sides did not focus on Antarctica, nor did they find that Antarctica has such a large amount of water reserves." According to him, the main focus of the United States since then has shifted to space shuttle and Mars exploration, including the construction of its own space station; The Soviet Union shifted its main focus to space station construction.

In fact, before the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Russia had always cooperated closely with the United States, Europe and other western countries in the space field. However, since the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the western countries have successively implemented sanctions on Russia's aerospace industry, such as the ban on the export of aerospace spare parts products to Russia, and have successively announced the cancellation or suspension of cooperation with Russia. The Russian side has also responded to the sanctions, such as suspending space launch cooperation with the European Space Agency at the French Guiana Space Center. At the end of July last year, Russia even announced its withdrawal from the International Space Station and planned to build an independent space thereafter.

Wang Yanan believes that Russia has its own plans to launch a lunar probe at the current time. "On the one hand, Russia's technological accumulation makes it highly likely that it will become the first country to land on the South Pole of the Moon, revitalizing its reputation as a major aerospace country. On the other hand, in the current situation, it is conducive to consolidating people's hearts and giving them confidence in Russia's future. In his view, the most fundamental reason for Russia's launch of the lunar probe is that in the future, the scientific research field of the Moon, including the development and utilization of lunar resources, will be an important strategic measure for any country." Russia will not give up, because once given up, its position as a world power will be shaken. "

These countries also have moon landing plans

After the launch of the lunar probe, Russia's subsequent lunar landing plans have also been put on the agenda. For example, from 2027 to 2028, Russia plans to implement the "Lunar-26" and "Lunar-27" missions respectively. The former will be used for in orbit lunar exploration and site selection for lunar ground station construction, while the latter will focus on investigating the permafrost in the polar regions of the moon. Afterwards, Russia will also launch the Lunar-28 spacecraft, striving to bring back samples of the lunar weathering layer.

After the above-mentioned lunar probe successfully executes the relevant tasks, Russia will begin to shift towards a manned lunar landing program. The Russian Aerospace Group previously wrote in official documents for the first time that Russia's first manned lunar landing will be carried out by an Angara rocket carrying a small manned spacecraft. It is reported that Russian astronauts will make their first lunar landing in 2030. According to Russian media reports, the then director of the Russian space agency, Rogozin, once joked that one of the future missions of the agency is to verify whether NASA actually landed on the moon more than 50 years ago.

Japan plans to launch an unmanned probe for lunar landing on August 26th, and two private space companies in the United States plan to land on the moon before the end of the year. China's Chang'e-6 lunar landing plan will be implemented in May next year.

Regarding the intensive lunar exploration activities in human history, Wang Yanan stated that lunar scientific research has now become a key focus of attention for various countries. In the future, powerful technological powers will definitely launch probes to related areas such as the South Pole of the Moon, and even consider establishing long-term manned research bases.

"In the past, the moon was considered a shared resource of humanity, after all, in earlier years, human technological level was not so close to the moon." He said, "However, with the development of technology, once the future develops to the surface of the moon, there will be long-term scientific research bases for human habitation, exploration, and development of lunar resources, the regulations of the past will become extremely realistic."

In Wang Yanan's view, these regulations may become another new hot topic in the field of international law. "How to ensure the effectiveness of regulations on public property for all mankind will become a key focus that must be paid attention to in the future. The future moon is full of both idealistic beauty and complexity for human society."