India is on the verge of overtaking Russia in the space race as it gears up for its upcoming lunar mission. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) recently announced through the platform X (formerly known as Twitter) that it will attempt to land its Vikram robotic lander on Wednesday. This announcement came as Russia’s Luna-25 crashed into the moon’s surface after losing control. The Vikram lander is scheduled to touch down near the lunar south pole, just a few hundred miles from Russia’s intended site. The mission aims to study the moon’s surface composition, seismic activity, temperature, and radiation levels, as well as search for water ice, which could potentially be transformed into air and rocket fuel. The lunar south pole is of particular interest to scientists due to its permanently shadowed craters that are believed to contain water. Russia’s space agency, Roscosmos, had hoped to establish itself as a space superpower by achieving a successful lunar landing ahead of India. However, Roscosmos lost contact with the Luna-25 lander and it crashed into the moon’s surface. The incident has prompted further investigation to determine the cause of the failure. Despite the crash, the Luna-25 mission achieved some successes, including capturing images of the moon’s surface.