India announces moon lander days from touching down – as Russian craft crashes

Published

1 year ago

August 21, 2023

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India could be about to take one giant leap ahead of Russia in the space race – with its latest lunar mission just days away from attempting to land.

India’s space agency ISRO announced via X, formerly known as Twitter, on Sunday that it will attempt to land its Vikram robotic lander on Wednesday.

The post was sent as news broke about the demise of Russia’s Luna-25, which crashed into the moon’s surface after spinning into uncontrolled orbit.

India’s Vikram robotic lander is due to touch down a few hundred miles from Russia’s targeted site – within the lunar south pole – on Wednesday, according to ISRO.

“Chandrayaan-3 is set to land on the moon on 23 August, around 6.04pm Indian Standard Time (IST).

“Thanks for the wishes and positivity!”

The lander – launched into space in July – is designed to run tests on the composition of the moon’s surface, as well as monitor seismic activity, temperature and radiation levels.

It will also attempt to find the presence of water ice in the lunar soil – something Russia had hoped to do with its Luna-25 lander.

The lunar south pole is of particular interest to scientists, who believe the permanently shadowed craters contain water.

The frozen water in the rocks could be transformed into air and rocket fuel, potentially allowing for longer human trips.

No country has ever actually ventured into the region before.

Russia’s space agency, Roscosmos, had been aiming to beat India’s lander and secure its place as a “space superpower” – despite its experts losing access to Western technology in the wake of the Ukraine invasion.

However, the space corporation said it lost contact with the craft after it ran into unspecified trouble while preparing for the pre-landing orbit.

“The apparatus moved into an unpredictable orbit and ceased to exist as a result of a collision with the surface of the moon,” Roscosmos said in a statement on Sunday.

It comes after the country reported an “abnormal situation” that its specialists were analysing on Saturday. The mission was the country’s first to the lunar surface in almost 50 years.

Russian state television put news of the loss of Luna-25 at number 8 in its line up at noon on Sunday and gave it just 26 seconds of coverage.

News about fires on Tenerife and a four-minute item about a professional holiday for Russian pilots and crews featured higher than the Luna-25’s failed mission.

Russia said a special inter-departmental commission had been formed to investigate the reasons behind the loss of the Luna-25.

Despite the crash, Vitaly Egorov, a popular Russian space analyst, said the mission had some successes, including taking pictures of the moon’s surface.

“Luna 25 showed important progress. It flew toward the moon, carried out orbit correction, and tested onboard electronics and scientific tools,” he said via videocall.

“It even managed to collect some small scientific data during the flight and from the lunar orbit. It also sent photos of the moon.

“Russian cosmonautics was not at this level before. But then, an error occurred somehow.”

More than a dozen people missing after tourist boat sinks off coast of Egypt

Published

10 hours ago

November 25, 2024

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More than a dozen people missing after tourist boat sinks off coast of Egypt

More than a dozen people are missing after a tourist boat sank in the Red Sea off the coast of Egypt, officials have said.

The boat, Sea Story, was carrying 45 people, including 31 tourists of varying nationalities and 14 crew.

Authorities are searching for 17 people who are still missing, the governor of the Red Sea region said on Monday, adding that 28 people had been rescued.

The vessel was part of a diving trip when it went down near the coastal town of Marsa Alam.

Officials said a distress call was received at 5.30am local time on Monday.

The boat had departed from Port Ghalib in Marsa Alam on Sunday and was scheduled to reach its destination of Hurghada Marina on 29 November.

Some survivors had been airlifted to safety on a helicopter, officials said.

It was not immediately clear what caused the four-deck, wooden-hulled motor yacht to sink.

The firm that operates the yacht, Dive Pro Liveaboard in Hurghada, said it has no information on the matter.

According to its maker’s website, the Sea Story was built in 2022.

The incident comes after the Egyptian Meteorological Authority issued a warning on Saturday about turbulence and high waves on the Red Sea.

The organisation had advised against maritime activity for Sunday and Monday.

Some tourist companies have stopped or limited operations on the Red Sea due to the potential dangers from conflicts in the region.

Ukraine war: Russia launches drone strike on Kyiv – as commander ‘sacked for lying about war progress’

Published

22 hours ago

November 25, 2024

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Ukraine war: Russia launches drone strike on Kyiv - as commander 'sacked for lying about war progress'

Russia launched a large drone attack on Kyiv overnight, with Volodymyr Zelenskyy warning the attack shows his capital needs better air defences.

Ukraine’s air defence units shot down 50 of 73 Russian drones launched, with no immediate reports of damage or injuries as a result of the attacks.

Russia has used more than 800 guided aerial bombs and around 460 attack drones in the past week.

Warning that Ukraine needs to improve its air defences, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said: “An air alert has been sounded almost daily across Ukraine this week”.

“Ukraine is not a testing ground for weapons. Ukraine is a sovereign and independent state.

“But Russia still continues its efforts to kill our people, spread fear and panic, and weaken us.”

Russia did not comment on the attack.

It comes as Russian media reported that Colonel General Gennady Anashkin, the commander of the country’s southern military district, had been removed from his role over allegedly providing misleading reports about his troops’ progress.

While Russian forces have advanced at the fastest rate in Ukraine since the start of the invasion, forces have been much slower around Siversk and the eastern region of Donetsk.

Russian war bloggers have long complained that units there are poorly supported and thrown into deadly battles for little tactical gain.

Russia’s ministry of defence has not commented on the reports.

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Russian forces capture ‘former British soldier’ fighting for Ukraine – reports

Published

1 day ago

November 24, 2024

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Russian forces capture 'former British soldier' fighting for Ukraine - reports

Russian forces have reportedly captured a British man while he was fighting for Ukraine.

In a widely circulated video posted on Sunday, the man says his name is James Scott Rhys Anderson, aged 22.

He says he is a former British Army soldier who signed up to fight for Ukraine’s International Legion after his job.

He is dressed in army fatigues and speaks with an English accent as he says to camera: “I was in the British Army before, from 2019 to 2023, 22 Signal Regiment.”

He tells the camera he was “just a private”, “a signalman” in “One Signal Brigade, 22 Signal Regiment, 252 Squadron”.

“When I left… got fired from my job, I applied on the International Legion webpage. I had just lost everything. I just lost my job,” he said.

“My dad was away in prison, I see it on the TV,” he added, shaking his head. “It was a stupid idea.”

In a second video, he is shown with his hands tied and at one point, with tape over his eyes.

He describes how he had travelled to Ukraine from Britain, saying: “I flew to Krakow, Poland, from London Luton. Bus from there to Medyka in Poland, on the Ukraine border.”

Russian state news agency Tass reported that a military source said a “UK mercenary” had been “taken prisoner in the Kursk area” of Russia.

The UK Foreign Office said it was “supporting the family of a British man following reports of his detention”.

The Ministry of Defence has declined to comment at this stage.