The Russian probe “Luna-25”, launched on August 11 from the Russian Far East, entered lunar orbit on Wednesday, and on August 21 it will attempt to land on the moon, near the south pole of the moon. And the Indian Chandrayaan-3 probe should land near the south pole of the Moon on August 23 or 24.

For the next four days, the Russian probe, the size of a small car, will orbit the moon, and on August 21 it will change course to attempt a crucial step: selenization. This will be a difficult mission.

The Russian space agency Roscosmos says that all systems are working normally and that test sessions are being conducted to measure navigation parameters.

No country managed to make a “soft landing” in the region of the South Pole of the Moon. India’s Chandrayaan-2 mission attempted in 2019 but failed. India is trying again with the Chandrayaan-3 mission, which should also put a small rover in the South Pole area around August 23 or 24. The Indian probe was launched on August 7.

The Roscosmos agency says there are three possible selenization points near the moon’s south pole, and the probe will attempt to sample at a maximum depth of 15cm, hoping to find frozen water. The Russians hope that “Luna-25” will work for at least a year.

In 1976, the USSR sent a mission called “Luna-24” to the Earth’s natural satellite, while only the USA and the USSR were space powers.

The Russians say they want to be the first to land on the moon’s south pole, since most probes are aimed at the equatorial region.

The region of the south pole of the Moon is of interest to space powers because there is a lot of frozen water, and in the medium to long term this ice can be used to support much longer space missions to Mars.