A view of the moon captured by the Chandrayaan-3. Twitter/@isro

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on August 18 released two videos of the moon which was captured by India’s third moon mission Chandrayaan-3.

The first video shows the moon captured by the Lander Position Detection Camera (LPDC) on August 15, 2023, and in the second one the Lander Imager (LI) Camera-1 has taken a video of the moon just after the separation of the Lander Module from the Propulsion Module on August 17, 2023.

The lander module on August 17 successfully separated from the propulsion module after 44 days of travel.

“Thanks for the ride, mate! ’ said the Lander Module (LM). LM is successfully separated from the Propulsion Module (PM). LM is set to descend to a slightly lower orbit upon a deboosting planned for tomorrow around 1600 Hrs., IST.” the space agency posted on social media platform X after the successful separation.

This is the third video released by the ISRO after the launch of the Chandrayaan-3 mission. On August 6 it shared its first video of the moon as viewed by Chandrayaan-3 during Lunar Orbit Insertion on August 5.

A picture taken from the camera of the lunar landing spacecraft Luna-25 shows the Zeeman crater located on the far side of the moon, August 17, 2023.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Russia’s lunar spacecraft entered the moon’s orbit on Wednesday, a major step towards the country’s ambition of being the first to land on the moon’s south pole in the search for frozen water.

The Luna-25 entered the moon’s orbit at 11:57 a.m. (0857 GMT), Russia’s space corporate Roskosmos said.

Luna-25 will circle the moon, the earth’s only natural satellite, for around 5 days, then change course for a soft landing on the lunar south pole planned for Aug. 21.

India’s Chandrayaan-3 entered the moon’s orbit earlier this month ahead of a planned touchdown on the south pole of the moon later this month.

Also Read | Russia launches Luna-25 in a bid to return to the moon 

The Luna-25, which is roughly the size of a small car, will aim to operate for a year on the south pole, where scientists at NASA and other space agencies in recent years have detected traces of frozen water in the craters.

The presence of water on the moon has implications for major space powers, potentially allowing longer human sojourns on the planet that would enable the mining of lunar resources.

No Russian spacecraft has entered lunar orbit since Luna-24, the Soviet Union’s 1976 moon mission, according to Anatoly Zak, the creator and publisher of www.RussianSpaceWeb.com which tracks Russian space programmes.

“Entering lunar orbit is absolutely critical for the success of this project,” Zak told Reuters. “This is a first for the post-Soviet period.”

“Some are calling this the second lunar race so it is very important for Russia to resume this programme. Luna-25 is not just one mission – it is part of a much broader Russian strategy that stretches 10 years into the future.”