Russia launches lunar lander in race to find water on moon

 Russia launched its first moon-landing spacecraft in 47 years on Friday in a bid to be the first nation to make a soft landing on the lunar south pole, a region believed to hold coveted pockets of water ice.

The Russian lunar mission, the first since 1976, is racing against India, which launched its Chandrayaan-3 lunar lander last month, and more broadly with the United States and China, both of which have advanced lunar exploration programs targeting the lunar south pole.

The landing of Luna-25, the first moon mission in the history of modern Russia, is expected to touch the lunar surface on August 21, Roscosmos Director General Yury Borisov said on Friday.

The official described the mission’s launch as a success.

"We are now waiting for [August] 21. I hope that the highly accurate landing on the Moon will be successful," he said, congratulating the ground crew that conducted the launch.

In his words, the spacecraft is to reach the Moon’s orbit on August 16.

Overall, the mission is expected to take about one year.