Russia launches the Luna 25 uncrewed spacecraft on a mission to land near the south pole of the moon. This is the first mission in the Luna program, which has been dormant since the 1970s; if successful, the mission will be the first Russian soft-landing on the moon in almost 50 years. Much like India’s Chanrayaan-3 mission, launched a few weeks earlier, Luna 25 is intended to search for signs of water in the shaded areas of the lunar south pole, which could be a necessary resource for future crewed missions and possible long-term habitation of the moon.
