Russian Spacecraft Sends Images of the Dark Side of the Moon

Russia's space agency, Roscosmos, announced today that its spacecraft sent on a mission to the southern pole of the Moon has yielded its first results, which are currently being analyzed. The agency also released images of the Zeman crater on the lunar surface, captured by the spacecraft Luna-25. This spacecraft is scheduled to land on the Moon's southern pole on Monday after orbiting it for five days.

Roscosmos stated that the Zeman crater is the third deepest crater on the Moon's southern hemisphere, with a diameter of 190 kilometers and a depth of eight kilometers. The data received so far provides information about the chemical elements present in the lunar soil and is expected to facilitate the work of devices designed to study the Moon's shallow surface.

Additionally, Roscosmos reported that their equipment detected "impacts of small meteorites."

Luna-25 entered lunar orbit on Wednesday, becoming the first Russian spacecraft to achieve this since 1976. Roughly the size of a small car, it aims to operate for a year on the Moon's southern pole. In recent years, scientists from NASA and other space agencies have discovered signs of frozen water in craters. The presence of water could have significant implications for major space endeavors, potentially extending human habitation on the Moon and enabling the extraction of lunar resources.