a country united by wanting to survive. ..but also grappling with the fact that the battlefield is not for everyone. james waterhouse, bbc news, kyiv. excitement is building in india as it hopes to become only the fourth country to land on the moon, and the first to reach the lunar south pole. the unmanned lander is on course to touch down later today, in a region that scientists hope will contain enough ice to support a future human settlement. russia had been hoping to beat india to the south pole of the moon over the weekend. but its luna 25 spacecraft crashed into the moon after spinning out of control on sunday morning. the first british astronaut, helen sharman, told me more about the mission. the south pole of the moon has,
well, we think it has of ice. the south pole of the moon has, well, we think it has lots of ice. ice, of course for useful if you re going to send people to the moon because they will want to drink, they will want to perhaps split the water into hydrogen and oxygen and breathe the oxygen, and you can make rocket fuel from it as well. so ice is good. but also that crater on the south pole of the moon has a really high rim. part of that rim are in constant sunlight, more or less constant sunlight if you put your solar power generator, for instance, up there, you re always going to be generating some power and what s more, we think that possibly whatever created that impact, at the time, it would ve made the lunar crust and the upper mantle come to the surface, let s say, of that crater down below.
all previous missions touched down around the moon s equator, but this craft is aiming to land near its south pole, which brings extra challenges, as well as extra possibilities. the south pole of the moon has, or we think it has at least, lots of ice. ice is of course really useful if you re going to send people to the moon, because they will want to drink, they will want to perhaps split the water into hydrogen and oxygen and breathe the oxygen. after russia failed in its attempt to land at the south pole just days ago, this mission has gripped india. prayers for success are being said across the country s religions. i obviously feel very happy i for my country and i feel that if we do this we would be challenging the world system and we would rise up as one of the biggest powers in the world. in the next few minutes, the lander will makes its
..but also grappling with the fact that the battlefield is not for everyone. james waterhouse, bbc news, kyiv. excitement is building in india as it hopes to become only the fourth country to land on the moon, and the first to reach the lunar south pole. the unmanned chandrayaan 3 lander is on course to touch down later today, in a region that scientists hope will contain enough ice to support a future human settlement. russia had been hoping to beat india to the south pole of the moon over the weekend. but its luna 25 spacecraft crashed into the moon after spinning out of control on sunday morning. the first british astronaut, helen sharman, told me more about the mission. the south pole of the moon has, well, we think it has of ice. ice, of course for useful if you re going to send people
of the moon over the weekend. but its luna 25 spacecraft crashed into the moon after spinning out of control on sunday morning. to london now where we can speak to the first british astronaut, helen sharman. why is this part of the moon the focus of so much attention? welcomed south pole of the moon has, well, we think it has of ice. ice, of course for useful if you re going to send people to them and because they will want to drink, they will want to perhaps split the water into hydrogen and oxygen and breed the oxygen, and you can make rocket fuel from it as well. ice is good. but also that creator on the south pole of the moon has a really high ran. part of that remnant are in constant