'Oversmart' Luna 25 versus humble Chandrayaan-3

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Russia's lunar probe Luna-25 was in a haste to land on the south pole of the moon before India like it was a kind of bet.

Just after India announced that Chandrayaan-3 would take off on July 14 and land on the moon on August 23, Russia launched its probe on August 10. Launched towards the moon on a powerful Soyuz rocket, Luna-25 reached the surface of the moon in nine days. Even then, India's Chandrayaan-3 was slowly but steadily approaching the moon after first circling the earth, then circling the moon. Meanwhile, Luna-25 crashed on the moon's surface due to a technical problem. With that, Russia, after reaching the south pole for the first time, had to return with shame. Russia's moon race comes after 47 years.

Many had even compared the 'space battle' between India and Russia to a race between a tortoise and a hare.

It is reported that Russia has appointed a committee to study the failure of Luna-25. The scientific world also points out that the project was implemented without the necessary experiments or money, and Russia's haste to land on the south pole before India was set back.

Luna and Chandrayaan

Luna-25 was lighter than India's Chandrayaan-3. Luna weighed only 1,750 kg. Meanwhile, Chandrayaan weighs 3,800 kg. Chandrayaan had more scientific instruments than Luna. Beyond this, what differentiates Luna and Chandrayaan is the path taken by both missions. While Luna-25 took a direct path to the Moon, Chandrayaan's journey depended on gravitational forces by moving slowly through the orbits of the Earth and the Moon. This is the reason behind Chandrayaan-3 taking longer to reach the lunar surface.