What exploring the cosmos means

There will be some smirks about the failure of the Russian Luna-25 moon mission, after the probe smashed into the surface of our satellite on Sunday.

In reality, such a mission is complex and every country which has ventured into space has failed – which makes the endeavours much more worthwhile.

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At the same time, the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) is hoping that its lunar lander, Chandrayaan-3, will touch down safely tomorrow on the dark side of the moon.

The Indians are being cautious and using cameras to detect landing obstacles in an area about which little is known.

Scientists are interested in exploring that side of the moon for that very reason – and the possibility it could hold frozen water or other minerals.

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What is heartening about the Isro effort, though, is that the ground stations of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the European Space Agency have been assisting Isro’s efforts to monitor the spacecraft’s health.

That shows that countries are prepared to put scientific inquiry ahead of nationalistic concerns – and that is no bad thing.

Exploration of the cosmos is also a reminder of how petty our human problems are compared to the vastness of the universe.

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