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Nasa
Two nations are battling it out to be the first to reach the moon’s South Pole
Newsable is brought to you by BNZ.
There’s a new race to get to the Moon.
More specifically, to be the first to reach the lunar South Pole – a place no lander has successfully gone before.
The race is between India and Russia, with one taking what appears to be the long route, and the other seems to have gone for the more direct option (and according to a BBC report, this race is a pure accident).
India’s lander, Chandrayaan-3, blasted off in July, circling Earth a few times before spending time orbiting the Moon in preparation for landing.
The Russian spacecraft, Luna-25, on the other hand, only just took off and is set to reach the Moon’s surface in just 10 days.
They’re both aiming for the lunar South Pole – searching for water ice, and potentially other useful minerals that might be lurking amongst the lunar dust.
Imogen Wells and Emile Donovan will cover what’s worth talking about in the Newsable podcast, out at 6am each weekday morning.
The ice is of particular interest, as scientists believe the hydrogen in the water could potentially be extracted to make rocket fuel at a future Moon base, plus could be drinkable after treatment.
So, in the next week or so, we should know who has won this coincidental battle to the Moon’s South Pole.
Newsable is Stuff’s daily news podcast, wrapping up what’s worth talking about in a short package every weekday morning. You can find new episodes and more detail on our stories here or in our newsletter. Make sure to like and follow us wherever you get your podcasts and across Instagram and TikTok.
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