Luna 27


Luna 27 is a planned lunar lander mission by the Russian Federal Space Agency with collaboration by the European Space Agency to send a lander to the South Pole–Aitken basin, an area on the far side of the Moon. Its objective will be to detect and characterise lunar polar volatiles. The mission is a continuation of the Luna-Glob programme.

Mission

The purpose is to prospect for minerals, volatiles, and lunar water ice in permanently shadowed areas of the Moon and investigate the potential use of these natural lunar resources. On the long term, Russia considers building a crewed base on the Moon's far side that would bring scientific and commercial benefits.
Europe's participation in the mission received final approval at a meeting of ministers in December 2016. ESA will contribute with the development of a new type of automated landing system, and will also be providing the 'PROSPECT' package, consisting of a drill, sample handling, and an analysis package. The percussion drill is designed to go down to and collect cemented ice samples for an onboard miniaturised laboratory called ProSPA. The scientific payload consists of fifteen instruments.
The lander mission was announced in November 2014 by Russia, and its launch is planned for August 2025.

Science payload

The lander will feature 15 science instruments that will analyse the regolith, plasma in the exosphere, dust, and seismic activity. The payload will include a sampling drill. The notional instrument payload includes: