Russia launches lunar lander in race to find water on moon

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 lander is expected to touch down on the moon on Aug. 21, Russia's space chief Yuri Borisov told Interfax on Friday. I hope that a highly precise soft landing on the moon will happen," Borisov told workers at the Vostochny cosmodrome after the launch, according to Interfax. Photo: ReutersThe Soyuz-2.1b rocket booster with the lunar landing spacecraft Luna-25 is lifted on the launchpad ahead of its upcoming launch at the Vostochny Cosmodrome in the Amur region, Russia, August 8, 2023. A Japanese lunar landing failed last year and an Israeli mission failed in 2019.