Russia's Luna-25 crash will have no impact on Chandrayaan-3 mission: Indian space scientists
Bengaluru(PTI): The failure of Russia's Luna-25 moon mission will have no impact on ISRO's Chandrayaan-3 lunar venture, according to top Indian space scientists.
The Luna-25 spacecraft crashed into the Moon after it spun into an uncontrolled orbit, Russia's Roscosmos space agency said on August 20.
"It does not have any impact," K Sivan, who was heading ISRO when the Chandrayaan-2 mission was launched in 2019, told PTI on Monday when asked if ISRO would be under additional pressure ahead of the soft landing, following the Russian setback.
Chandrayaan-3 mission's lander module with a rover in its belly is expected to touch down on the surface of the Moon around 6.04 pm on Wednesday, ISRO had said on Sunday.
"It (Chandrayaan-3 mission) is going on as per plan. It (soft landing) will be done accordingly, Sivan said. "We are hoping that this time (unlike Chandrayaan-2) it (the touchdown) will be successful".
Former ISRO Chairman G Madhavan Nair dismissed talk in some quarters that India and Russia were engaged in a race to the Moon, and termed the crash-landing of Luna-25 as unfortunate.
"I know the (lander) module. It was ready way back in 2008. When I visited the lab (in Russia), they showed me the module. They didn't have the resources to fly (then), so it had been kept in cold storage for a long time. Now only they had resources (to launch)," he told PTI.
Ruling out any impact on the Chandrayaan-3 mission launched on July 14, Nair said India's venture is totally self-sufficient and "we are not dependent on them (Russia)". Right now, India's space cooperation with Russia is limited to training of Indian astronauts for the Gaganyaan human space flight mission.
"So, had it (Luna-25) landed, our data and their (Russian) data (collected based on experiments on the lunar surface) would have been complementary," he said.
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Xi, Trump reach series of new common understandings: China's foreign ministry
Beijing (PTI): Chinese President Xi Jinping and his US counterpart Donald Trump had an in-depth exchange of views on major issues concerning the two countries and the world, and reached a series of new common understandings, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said Friday.
Xi and Trump, who is on a three-day visit to China, met twice on Thursday and discussed a range of bilateral and global issues.
Trump is due to leave on Friday after a luncheon meeting with Xi.
Summing up the outcomes of Trump’s visit to Beijing, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said the two presidents had an in-depth exchange of views on major issues concerning the two countries and the world and reached a series of new common understandings.
They agreed on a new vision of building a constructive China-US relationship of strategic stability to provide strategic guidance for bilateral relations over the next three years and beyond.
The two presidents also agreed to promote the steady, sound and sustainable development of China-US relations, and bring more peace, prosperity and progress to the world, said a statement by the ministry’s spokesperson.
Trump visited China at the invitation of Xi.
The two presidents are meeting in person again for the first time since their Busan meeting last October, and it is the first visit to China by a US president in nine years, the statement said.
On Thursday, President Xi held a welcome ceremony and a banquet for Trump, held talks and visited the Temple of Heaven with him.
VIDEO | Beijing: On second day of bilateral talks, US President Donald Trump (@POTUS) thanks Chinese President Xi Jinping for 'incredible' China trip.
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) May 15, 2026
Trump says, "Thank you very much. This has been an incredible visit. I think a lot of good has come of it. We've made some… pic.twitter.com/7A7lbEzLdC
