MOSCOW, August 19 Specialists have switched on several instruments of the Luna-25 interplanetary station and obtained the first scientific results. This was reported in the press service of Roskosmos.
«The Luna-25 spacecraft continues its flight in a circular orbit of an artificial satellite of the Moon. Several switching on of scientific equipment created at the IKI RAS has been carried out,» the statement says.
According to the state corporation, the ADRON-LR neutron and gamma spectrometer registered the most intense lines of chemical elements of the lunar soil in the energy spectrum of gamma rays.
In addition, the ARIES-L ion energy-mass analyzer was turned on for the first time in the Moon's orbit. It is designed to study the interaction of the solar wind and the surface of the Earth's satellite, as well as the composition of regolith from secondary ions and neutral particles knocked out of it.
The data obtained with this device allowed scientists to choose the optimal operating mode for it on the surface of the Moon to measure the energy spectra of particles in the energy range from ten to three thousand electron volts.
«The PML device, designed to detect microparticles levitating near the surface of the Moon and determine the parameters of the surrounding plasma, registered the event of a micrometeorite impact. Most likely, this micrometeorite belongs to the Perseid meteor shower, which the Luna-25 spacecraft managed to successfully cross during the flight to Moon,» Roskosmos explained.
In addition, specialists from IKI and the Moscow State University of Geodesy and Cartography (MIIGAiK) processed two images of the lunar surface taken on August 17 by the landing cameras of the STS-L system. They also conducted a reference to a digital elevation model, which increased the accuracy of knowing the orbit on which the device is located.
It is noted that both photographs capture the unique Zeeman crater. It is in third place on the list of the twenty deepest craters in the southern hemisphere of the moon. Zeeman is distinguished by an unusual size ratio: the diameter is about 190 kilometers, the depth is about eight kilometers. Scientists attribute its formation to a very strong impact.
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"Detailed photographs show that the bottom of the crater is dotted with smaller craters. This happens if part of the substance ejected upon impact fell back and created numerous small potholes,” the press service reported. Vostochny Cosmodrome at 02:11 Moscow time on August 11. The main goal of the mission is to examine the lunar soil for the presence of ice.
The Luna-25 automatic station was created at the Lavochkin Research and Production Association. It should be the first spacecraft to land gently in the area of the South Pole of the Moon, where the complex terrain prevails. This is expected to happen on August 21.