<div><span style="font-size: 1rem;"><b>India's space agency has released latest images of the Moon as its third lunar mission starts descending towards the little-explored south pole.</b></span><br></div><div><br></div><div>The pictures have been taken by Vikram, Chandrayaan-3's lander, which began the last phase of its mission on Thursday.</div><div><br></div><div>Vikram, which carries a rover in its belly, is due to land near the south pole on 23 August.</div><div><br></div><div>The lander detached from the propulsion module, which carried it close to the Moon, on Thursday.</div><div><br></div><div>The black-and-white images show close-ups of rocks and craters on the Moon's surface. One of the photographs shows the propulsion module too.</div><div><br></div><div>Chandrayaan-3 and Russia's Luna-25 are among the two spacecraft headed towards the Moon's south pole and both are expected to land next week.</div><div><br></div><div>Luna-25 - Russia's first Moon mission since 1976, when it was part of the Soviet Union - was launched last week and is expected to make history by making a soft landing on 21st or 22nd August, just days before the Indian touchdown. If it succeeds, Chandrayaan-3 will have to settle for being a close second in reaching the south pole. - BBC</div><div><br></div><div>bnbd24/fas</div>