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Russia to Evacuate Village for 1st Lunar Lander Mission in Half Century

A jetliner flying from JFK is silhouetted against the moon, Wednesday, Aug. 2, 2023, in New York. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)
A jetliner flying from JFK is silhouetted against the moon, Wednesday, Aug. 2, 2023, in New York. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)
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Russia to Evacuate Village for 1st Lunar Lander Mission in Half Century

A jetliner flying from JFK is silhouetted against the moon, Wednesday, Aug. 2, 2023, in New York. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)
A jetliner flying from JFK is silhouetted against the moon, Wednesday, Aug. 2, 2023, in New York. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)

Russia will evacuate a village in its far east on Aug. 11 as part of the launch of Russia's first lunar lander mission in nearly half a century, a local official said on Monday.

The Luna-25 lunar lander, Russia's first since 1976, will be launched from the Vostochny Cosmodrome, some 3,450 miles (5,550 km) east of Moscow, according to Russia's Roscosmos space agency.

The residents of the Shakhtinskyi settlement in Russia's Khabarovsk region, southeast of the launch site, will be evacuated early morning on Aug. 11, as the village lies in the predicted area where the rocket boosters will fall after they separate.

"The mouth of the Umalta, Ussamakh, Lepikan, Tastakh, Saganar rivers and the area of the ferry crossing on the Bureya River fall into the predicted (booster) fall zone," Alexei Maslov, head of the Verkhnebureinskyi district in the Khabarovsk region, said on the Telegram messaging app. "The residents of Shakhtinskyi will be evacuated."

Luna-25 will launch on a Soyuz-2 Fregat booster and will be the first lander to arrive on the South Pole of the moon, Roscosmos has said.

The main objective of the mission will be the development of soft-landing technologies, research of the internal structure of the Moon and exploration for resources, including water.

The lander is expected to operate on the lunar surface for one year.

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Monkeys Who Recently Died in Hong Kong's Zoo Had Been Infected with Melioidosis

Giant tubeworms on the seafloor surface at 2,500 meters water depth at the East Pacific Rise, a volcanically active ridge located where two tectonic plates meet on the floor of the Pacific Ocean in this undated photograph.CC BY-NC-SA Schmidt Ocean Institute/Handout via REUTERS
Giant tubeworms on the seafloor surface at 2,500 meters water depth at the East Pacific Rise, a volcanically active ridge located where two tectonic plates meet on the floor of the Pacific Ocean in this undated photograph.CC BY-NC-SA Schmidt Ocean Institute/Handout via REUTERS
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Monkeys Who Recently Died in Hong Kong's Zoo Had Been Infected with Melioidosis

Giant tubeworms on the seafloor surface at 2,500 meters water depth at the East Pacific Rise, a volcanically active ridge located where two tectonic plates meet on the floor of the Pacific Ocean in this undated photograph.CC BY-NC-SA Schmidt Ocean Institute/Handout via REUTERS
Giant tubeworms on the seafloor surface at 2,500 meters water depth at the East Pacific Rise, a volcanically active ridge located where two tectonic plates meet on the floor of the Pacific Ocean in this undated photograph.CC BY-NC-SA Schmidt Ocean Institute/Handout via REUTERS

Nine monkeys who died in Hong Kong's oldest zoo in two days this week had been infected with an endemic disease, possibly after some digging work near their cages, officials said on Friday.

Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism Kevin Yeung said in a press briefing that the animals in the Hong Kong Zoological and Botanical Gardens contracted melioidosis and the disease later caused them to develop sepsis, according to The AP.

Yeung stressed that such infections typically occur through contact with contaminated soil and water and that there is generally no danger to humans from contact with infected animals or people.

“We're saddened by the passing of the nine monkeys,” he said.

Eight monkeys were found dead on Sunday, and another died Monday after displaying unusual behavior. The deceased animals were a De Brazza’s monkey, a common squirrel monkey, four white-faced sakis and three cotton-top tamarins — a species listed as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

According to Hong Kong's Center for Health Protection, melioidosis is caused by the bacterium Burkholderia pseudomallei, which is widespread in soils and muddy water.

Yeung said the park conducted digging work to repair some irrigation pipes under the flower bed near the monkey cages in early October and that the deaths might be related to that.

He said the monkeys might have come into contact with the bacteria after the park's staff walked into their cages with possibly contaminated shoes. Another possibility is that some infected monkeys had close contact with other monkeys, he said.

“The incubation period for melioidosis in primates is about a week and this matched with the period after the soil digging work,” he said.

Edwin Tsui, the controller of the center, said the incident only happened in a single zone and its impact on Hong Kong residents would be very low.

Yeung on Monday held an urgent interdepartmental meeting about the deaths with the Leisure and Cultural Services Department, the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department and the Department of Health.

Another De Brazza’s monkey also displayed unusual behavior and appetite but offiicials said its condition remained stable on Friday.

The Hong Kong Zoological and Botanical Gardens — the oldest park in the former British colony — fully opened to the public in 1871. It is a rare urban oasis in the downtown Central district of the financial hub, which returned to Chinese rule in 1997.