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Russia made its final preparations on Thursday for the launch of its first lunar landing spacecraft in 47 years as it races to be the first power to make a soft landing on the south pole of the moon which may hold significant deposits of water ice.

For centuries, astronomers have wondered about water on the moon, which is 100 times drier than the Sahara. NASA maps in 2018 showed water ice in the shadowed parts of the moon and in 2020 NASA confirmed water exists on the sunlight areas.

A Soyuz 2.1v rocket carrying the Luna-25 craft will blast off from the Vostochny cosmodrome, 3,450 miles (5,550 km) east of Moscow, on Friday at 02:11 Moscow time (04:41am IST) and is due to touch down on the moon on August 23, Russia’s space agency said.

The Russian lunar mission, the first since 1976, is racing against India which sent up its Chandrayaan-3 lunar lander last month and more broadly with the United States and China which both have advanced lunar exploration programmes. 

“The last one was in 1976 so there’s a lot riding on this,” Asif Siddiqi, professor of history at Fordham University, told Reuters. 

“Russia’s aspirations towards the moon are mixed up in a lot of different things. I think first and foremost, it’s an expression of national power on the global stage.”

US astronaut Neil Armstrong gained renown in 1969 for being the first person to walk on the moon but it was the Soviet Union’s Luna-2 mission which was the first spacecraft to reach the moon’s surface in 1959 and the Luna-9 mission in 1966 was the first to do a soft landing on the moon.

But Moscow then focused on exploring Mars and since the 1991 fall of the Soviet Union, Russia has failed to send probes beyond the earth’s orbit. There is much riding on the Luna-25 mission — especially as the Kremlin says the West’s sanctions over the Ukraine war have failed to cripple the Russian economy. 

“Let me put it this way: If Russia prevailed and the Indian probe succeeded, it would really be something,” Saddiqi said, pointing to the deterioration of Russia’s space programmes over the recent decades. 

Moon water?

Major powers such as the United States, China, India, Japan and the European Union have all been probing the moon over recent years, though a Japanese lunar landing failed last year and an Israeli mission failed in 2019. 

No country has yet made a soft landing on the south pole. An Indian mission, the Chandrayaan-2, failed in 2019. 

Rough terrain makes a landing there difficult, but the prize of discovering water ice there could be historic: quantities of ice could be used to extract fuel and oxygen, as well as for drinking water.

“From the point of view of science, the most important task, to put it simply, is to land where no one else has landed,” Maxim Litvak, head of the planning group for the Luna-25 scientific equipment, said. 

“There are signs of ice in the soil of the Luna-25 landing area, this can be seen from the data from orbit,” he said, adding that the Luna-25 would work on the moon for at least an earth year, taking samples. 

Russian space agency Roskosmos said that it would take five days to fly to the moon. The craft would spend 5-7 days in lunar orbit before descending on one of three possible landing sites near the pole — a timetable that implies it could match or narrowly beat its Indian rival to the moon’s surface.

Chandrayaan-3 is due to run experiments for two weeks, while Luna-25 will work on the moon for a year.

With a mass of 1.8 tons and carrying 31 kg (68 pounds) of scientific equipment, Luna-25 will use a scoop to take rock samples from a depth of up to 15 cm (6 inches) to test for the presence of frozen water that could support human life.

It can explore the moon’s regolith — the layer of loose surface material — to a depth of 10 centimetres and carries a dust monitor and a wide-angle ionic energy-mass analyser that provides measurements of ion parameters in the moon’s exosphere. 

Russia has been planning such a mission for decades. The launch, originally planned for October 2021, has been delayed for nearly two years. The European Space Agency had planned to test its Pilot-D navigation camera by attaching it to Luna-25, but broke off its ties to the project after Russia invaded Ukraine in February last year.

Residents of a village in Russia’s far east will be evacuated from their homes at 7.30am on Friday because of a “one in a million chance” that one of the rocket stages that launches Luna-25 could fall to earth there, a local official said.

© Thomson Reuters 2023


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Drone mapping reveals ancient settlement in the Caucasus Mountains

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Drone mapping reveals ancient settlement in the Caucasus Mountains

A groundbreaking discovery has been made in the Caucasus Mountains where an ancient Bronze Age settlement, Dmanisis Gora, has been mapped using drone technology. This site, believed to be over 3,000 years old, reveals new insights into the evolution of large-scale settlements during the Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age. Spanning an area far larger than initially expected, the research offers a fresh perspective on ancient urbanism and interactions between sedentary and mobile communities.

Drone Mapping Reveals Extensive Settlement

As reported by Science Daily, the project led by Dr. Nathaniel Erb-Satullo, Senior Lecturer in Architectural Science at Cranfield Forensic Institute and Dimitri Jachvliani, co-director at the Georgian National Museum, employed drone technology to create high-resolution models of the site. The drone, equipped with advanced imaging tools, captured nearly 11,000 photographs, which were later used to generate detailed maps of the settlement. This method allowed the identification of fortification walls, graves and other structural remnants spread across a vast area.

The site, originally thought to be much smaller, was found to include a 1-kilometre-long defensive wall protecting an outer settlement. This finding significantly alters the understanding of the region’s settlement patterns, which were influenced by interactions with pastoral communities and seasonal population dynamics.

Integrating Modern and Historical Data

To further analyse the settlement, drone-generated images were compared with declassified satellite imagery from the Cold War era. This comparison highlighted changes in the landscape over decades, distinguishing ancient features from those impacted by modern agricultural activities. Geographic Information System (GIS) software was employed to integrate and analyse the diverse datasets, revealing patterns in the site’s expansion and usage over time.

Dr. Erb-Satullo noted to Science Daily, that these findings offer invaluable data on population density, agricultural practices and the broader socio-economic landscape of ancient societies. Continued excavations have uncovered artefacts such as pottery shards and animal remains, shedding more light on the lives of the people who inhabited Dmanisis Gora. This research underscores the potential of drone technology in unearthing and documenting historical sites on an unprecedented scale

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Ancient Geological Hotspot Linked to Great Lakes’ Depth and Formation

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Ancient Geological Hotspot Linked to Great Lakes' Depth and Formation

Evidence has emerged pointing to a significant role played by an ancient geographic hotspot in shaping the Great Lakes. Researchers have linked the formation of these massive water bodies to a hotspot that interacted with the Earth’s lithosphere millions of years ago. While the lakes are commonly attributed to glacial activity during the Ice Age, recent findings suggest that deeper geological processes may have contributed to their formation, providing insight into their extraordinary depth and size.

Study Highlights Geological Interactions

According to research published in Geophysical Research Letters, a team of scientists from the University of Houston and the University of Arizona investigated the Cape Verde hotspot’s historical activity. Hotspots, known for generating heat and material flow from the Earth’s mantle, are believed to have influenced the Great Lakes region approximately 225 to 300 million years ago. As Pangea, the ancient supercontinent, moved over this hotspot, thinning of the lithosphere occurred, making the ground beneath more susceptible to external forces.

Seismic Clues Support Hotspot Theory

As reported by phys.org, data from seismic wave analyses supported these claims. Unusual horizontal wave movement beneath the lakes indicated lithospheric deformation. This anomaly aligned with the passage of North America over the hotspot during its drift over geological time. These conditions, as reported, would have created a weakened crust, later amplified by glacial activity during the Ice Age.

Hotspot’s Legacy in the Great Lakes Formation

The research outlines how the Cape Verde hotspot likely underlay Lake Superior, Lake Huron, and Lake Erie at different points in history, contributing to the geological features that enabled the Great Lakes to form. The fragile crust allowed ice to carve deeper and larger depressions than would have been possible otherwise, creating the unique landscape seen today.

These findings reshape understanding of the Great Lakes’ origins, suggesting that both deep-Earth processes and surface phenomena played critical roles in their formation.

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LA wildfires rage as Santa Ana winds spread flames across 13,000 acres

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LA wildfires rage as Santa Ana winds spread flames across 13,000 acres

Raging wildfires in Los Angeles County have scorched over 13,000 acres, forcing tens of thousands of residents to evacuate as powerful Santa Ana winds continue to fuel the blazes. Four fires—the Eaton Fire in Pasadena, the Palisades Fire in Pacific Palisades, a blaze in Sylmar and another in the Sepulveda Basin—have collectively caused widespread destruction. Over 1,000 structures have been damaged and two fatalities have been confirmed as firefighting efforts are challenged by dry weather and hurricane-force winds reaching speeds of 99 mph.

Santa Ana Winds Amplifying Fire Threats

According to the National Weather Service (NWS), the wildfires have been intensified by the Santa Ana winds, which are characterised by dry and warm air moving from the Great Basin towards the California coast. These winds descend over mountain ranges, increasing in speed and losing moisture, creating conditions that rapidly spread flames. Reports indicate that some areas have recorded wind speeds of up to 100 mph in mountain passes, complicating containment efforts and grounding firefighting aircraft overnight.

Hydrant Issues and Evacuations Reported

The Los Angeles Times has reported water supply problems, with several fire hydrants in Pacific Palisades running dry. This issue has further hindered firefighting operations as crews battle to control the Eaton Fire, which has consumed 10,600 acres near Altadena and Pasadena. Meanwhile, the Palisades Fire has burned through 2,900 acres. Evacuations remain in place as residents are warned to avoid affected areas.

Winds Expected to Subside

Forecasts from the NWS predict a decrease in wind activity by Wednesday afternoon as an ocean breeze is expected to bring relief. Efforts to contain the flames are anticipated to accelerate once conditions improve. Officials continue to monitor additional fires, including one in Riverside that has been partially contained and another reported in Ventura.

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