Luna 25

Luna 25 (Luna-Glob lander)[6] is a planned lunar lander mission by the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos). It will land near the lunar south pole at the Boguslavsky crater.[2] It was renamed from Luna-Glob lander to Luna 25 to emphasize the continuity of the Soviet Luna programme from the 1970s, though it is still part of what was at one point conceptualized as the Luna-Glob lunar exploration program. The launch is scheduled for October 2021.[3]

Luna 25
NamesLuna-Glob lander
Mission typeTechnology, reconnaissance
OperatorSRI RAS (IKI RAN)
Mission duration1 year (planned)[1]
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft typeRobotic lander
ManufacturerNPO Lavochkin
Launch mass1,750 kg (3,860 lb)[2]
Payload mass30 kg (66 lb)
Start of mission
Launch date1 October 2021[3]
RocketSoyuz-2.1b / Fregat-M[4]
Launch siteBaikonur or Vostochny[2]
Moon lander
Landing siteBoguslavsky crater[3][5]
 

History

Nascent plans for what is now Luna 25 began in the late 1990s, with the evaluation of two spacecraft designs having taken place by 1998. Attempts to revive and complete the project continued throughout the 2000s and were punctuated by an aborted attempt at international cooperation via a merger with JAXA's now-cancelled Lunar-A orbiter, and pressure from another attempted cooperative lunar mission with ISRO (which continued without Russia's involvement).[7]

Delays in the 2010s came first from the significant rework and delay brought on by the failure of Phobos-Grunt in 2011. This is the point at which the modern Luna 25 design was developed. Later, work on the lander was slowed by resource pressures being placed upon spacecraft developer NPO Lavochkin, such as the weather satellite Elektro-L No.2 and the Spektr-RG observatory[8] as well the landing platform Russia is contributing to ExoMars 2020.[9]

By 2017, the propulsion system for the spacecraft was in assembly.[10]

Mission

Initial mission plans called for a lander and orbiter, with the latter also deploying impact penetrators. In its current form, Luna 25 is a lander only, with a primary mission of proving out the landing technology. The mission will carry 30 kg (66 lb) of scientific instruments, including a robotic arm for soil samples and possible drilling hardware.[2][11]

The launch is currently planned for October 2021 on a Soyuz-2.1b rocket with Fregat-M upper stage, from Baikonur or Vostochny.[3]

Science payload

The lander will feature a 30 kg (66 lb) payload composed by 9 notional science instruments:[12][1]

  • ADRON-LR, active neutron and gamma-ray analysis of regolith
  • ARIES-L, measurement of plasma in the exosphere
  • LASMA-LR, laser mass-spectrometer
  • LIS-TV-RPM, infrared spectrometry of minerals and imaging
  • PmL, measurement of dust and micro-meteorites
  • THERMO-L, measurement of the thermal properties of regolith
  • STS-L, panoramic and local imaging
  • Laser retroreflector, Moon libration and ranging experiments
  • BUNI, power and science data support

LINA-XSAN, a Swedish payload, was to fly with Luna 25, but delays to the launch date caused Sweden to cancel this plan. Instead, LINA-XSAN flew on Chang'e 4 in 2019.[13]

See also

References
  1. Carter, Jamie (26 July 2019). "A Soviet-Era 'Moon Digger' Program Is Being Revived To Hunt For Water At The Moon's South Pole". Forbes. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
  2. Krebs, Gunter (3 December 2019). "Luna-Glob (Luna 25)". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
  3. "Россия запустит космический аппарат на Луну 1 октября 2021 года" [Russia will launch a spacecraft to the moon on October 1, 2021]. RIA Novosti (in Russian). 17 March 2020. Retrieved 18 March 2020.
  4. Mitrofanov, Igor. "Luna-Glob” and “Luna-Resurs”: science goals, payload and status (PDF). EGU General Assembly 2014.
  5. Russia’s Luna-25 lunar landing station scheduled for 2019. Russian Aviation. 25 January 2018.
  6. "Missions to the Moon". The Planetary Society. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
  7. Zak, Anatoly (19 June 2019). "Luna-Glob project". Russian Space Web. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
  8. Zak, Anatoly (11 December 2017). "Luna-Glob (Luna-25) project in 2013". Russian Space Web. Retrieved 15 March 2018.
  9. Zak, Anatoly (12 January 2018). "Development of the Luna-Glob project in 2014 and 2015". Russian Space Web. Retrieved 15 March 2018.
  10. Zak, Anatoly (31 March 2018). "Luna-Glob's stop and go". Russian Space Web. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
  11. Zak, Anatoly (9 October 2019). "The Luna-Glob lander". Russian Space Web. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
  12. "Luna-25 (Luna-Glob Lander) Payload". Iki.rssi.ru.
  13. Pillet, Nicolas (25 June 2018). "Russia's Luna-Glob faces technical, political and ballistic issues". NASASpaceFlight. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
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