Indian rover begins exploring Moon’s south pole:
India began exploring the Moon’s surface with a rover on Thursday, a day after it became the first nation to land a craft near the largely unexplored lunar south pole.
Pragyan – “Wisdom” in Sanskrit – rolled out of the lander hours after the latest milestone in India’s ambitious but cut-price space programme sparked huge celebrations across the country.
“Rover ramped down the lander and India took a walk on the moon!” the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Thursday.
The six-wheeled, solar-powered rover will amble around the relatively unmapped region and transmit images and scientific data over its two-week lifespan.
The successful touchdown of the Chandrayaan-3 (“Mooncraft-3”) mission came just days after a Russian lander crashed in the same region.
It also comes four years after the previous Indian lunar mission failed during final descent, in what was seen at the time as a huge setback for its space programme.
However, India is steadily matching the achievements of established spacefaring nations.
Chandrayaan-3 has captivated public attention since launching nearly six weeks ago in front of thousands of cheering spectators.
Politicians staged Hindu prayer rituals to wish for the mission’s success and schoolchildren followed the final moments of its descent from live broadcasts in classrooms.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Wednesday that the successful lunar landing — previously achieved only by the United States, Russia and China — was a triumph for “all of humanity”.
Elon Musk, whose firm SpaceX is a leader in commercial space launches, hailed the landing as “super cool”.
The Indian mission took much longer to reach the Moon than the Apollo missions in the 1960s and 1970s, which arrived in a matter of days.
Chandrayaan-3 was launched on a less-powerful rocket and had to orbit the Earth several times to gain speed before embarking on its month-long journey.
Future goals
India has a comparatively low-budget space programme, but one that has grown considerably in size and momentum since it first sent a probe to orbit the Moon in 2008.
Chandrayaan-3 has a cost of $ 74.6 million – far lower than many missions from other countries and a testament to India’s frugal space engineering.
Experts say India can keep costs low by copying and adapting existing technology, and thanks to an abundance of highly skilled engineers who earn a fraction of their foreign counterparts’ wages.
In 2014, India became the first Asian nation to put a craft into orbit around Mars and plans to send a probe towards the sun in September.
ISRO is slated to launch a three-day crewed mission into Earth’s orbit by next year.
It also plans a joint mission with Japan to send another probe to the Moon by 2025 and an orbital mission to Venus within the next two years.
© Agence France-Presse
Wagner boss Prigozhin among 10 killed in plane crash: Russian officials:
The head of the Wagner mercenary group, which in June attempted to topple Russia’s military leadership, was on board a plane that crashed on Wednesday, with all passengers killed, Russian officials said.
The crash comes two months after Yevgeny Prigozhin launched a short-lived rebellion, seen as the biggest challenge to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s authority since he came to power.
Since then uncertainty has surrounded the fate of Wagner and its controversial chief.
Russia’s ministry for emergency situations on Wednesday announced the crash of a private plane travelling between Moscow and Saint Petersburg.
According to preliminary information, all 10 people on board died, including three crew members, the ministry said.
Russia’s aviation agency later said the Wagner chief was on board.
“According to the airline, the following passengers were on board the Embraer-135 (EBM-135BJ) aircraft:… Prigozhin, Yevgeny,” said Rosaviatsia, which also listed Dmitry Utkin, a shadowy figure who managed Wagner’s operations and allegedly served in Russian military intelligence.
Telegram channels linked to Wagner posted footage, which that AFP could not independently confirm, showing the wreckage of the plane burning in a field.
‘Not surprised’
Rosaviatsia said it set up a special commission to investigate the crash of the aircraft belonging to MNT-Aero.
Russia’s Investigative Committee, which probes serious crimes, said it opened an investigation into the crash.
The bodies of eight people have been found so far at the site of the crash, RIA Novosti said citing the emergency services.
Putin was meanwhile giving a speech for the 80th anniversary of the Kursk battle in World War II.
He did not mention the crash and hailed “all our soldiers who are fighting bravely and resolutely” in the special military operation in Ukraine.
But Kyiv and Washington reacted swiftly to initial reports of the crash.
“I don’t know for a fact what happened, but I’m not surprised,” US President Joe Biden said.
“There’s not much that happens in Russia that (President) Putin’s not behind. But I don’t know enough to know the answer.”
Ukrainian presidential aide Mykhaylo Podolyak said on social media that the plane crash was “a signal from Putin to Russia’s elites ahead of the 2024 elections. ‘Beware! Disloyalty equals death’.”
Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, the exiled leader of the opposition of Belarus – where some Wagner fighters moved after their short-lived mutiny in Russia – said Prigozhin would not be missed in her country.
“He was a murderer and should be remembered as such,” she said on social media.
During Russia’s offensive in Ukraine, launched on February 24, 2022, Prigozhin – who previously operated in the shadows – came into the spotlight.
He spearheaded the capture of several Ukrainian towns including Bakhmut, and harshly criticised Russia’s conventional military leadership.
Uncertainty after rebellion
But Prigozhin was locked in a bitter months-long power struggle with the defence ministry which he accused of trying to “steal” Wagner’s victories.
Tensions degenerated into a short-lived rebellion on June 23 and 24.
Thousands of mercenaries took up weapons and marched from southern Russia towards Moscow with the aim of toppling the country’s military leaders.
The mutiny ended with a deal, mediated by Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko, under which Prigozhin was expected to move to neighbouring Belarus with some of his men.
Some of the Wagner fighters went to Belarus where they began training the ex-Soviet country’s special forces.
But the fate of Prigozhin remained unclear: he seemed to enjoy a certain amount of freedom and took part in a meeting at the Kremlin where he refused to cede command of his mercenary group.
Still, he mostly remained out of the public eye.
His Telegram channel — where he usually communicated — has been inactive since the end of June.
Wagner-linked Telegram channels instead purportedly relayed rare messages.
On Monday, video circulated showing Prigozhin apparently in Africa, which he vowed to make “freer”.
The mercenary group maintains a strong military presence in Africa, where it has partnered with several nations, including Mali and the Central African Republic.
© Agence France-Presse
Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Argentina to become permanent members of Brics:
At least four countries have joined the Brics bloc, with Saudi Arabia and Egypt being endorsed by all five Brics nations.
The Mail & Guardian understands that all Brics (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) nations have concluded their deliberations on which countries would be joining the bloc in its expansion plan.
President Cyril Ramaphosa is expected to announce the decision on Thursday morning.
At least 20 countries, four of which are from Africa, had formally requested to join Brics.
Ethiopia, Algeria, Nigeria and Egypt are the four countries from Africa which the bloc seriously considered, insiders told the M&G.
South Africa supported Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Iran to become permanent members, the high level diplomats said.
Three well placed sources in three diplomatic missions from the five nations confirmed to the M&G that all five nations had agreed on Saudi Arabia and Egypt becoming permanent members.
The M&G understands that three other countries namely the United Arab Emirates and Argentina have been included as permanent members.
Indonesia, which had been favoured to join the group by at least four of the current bloc members, is said to have declined joining at the last minute.
Iran, which was favoured by the Russians, is said to have also received the nod from the Brazilians, but various sanctions imposed by the west against the oil rich country are likely to be its stumbling block.
Debate around whether Iran should join the group lasted throughout Tuesday night with the Brics nations ending its retreat without a consensus on whether the Iranians should join, the insiders said.
Saudi Arabia could be Brics’ biggest coup in its attempt to become the most dominant forum in the world.
Saudi’s high ranking politicians, including its monarch, are alleged to have landed in the country on Wednesday morning.
The oil rich country has tentacles in the United States and is expected to hold considerable sway in the west.
The M&G previously reported that South Africa was likely to advocate for Egypt to be included in Brics.
Insiders privy to the discussions say Egypt, in terms of its strategic location, is receiving serious consideration for South Africa’s endorsement to join the group.
Egypt’s GDP, population size and its strategic location on the Mediterranean and the Suez Canal makes it an attractive partner, one insider said.
This is a developing story
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