NEW DELHI: Russia’s space agency Roskosmos announced on Sunday that Russia’s Luna-25 spacecraft has crashed into the moon after spinning into an uncontrolled orbit. Luna-25 marked Russia’s first moon mission in 47 years.
Luna-25, launched on August 11, was intended to be Russia’s premier moon mission in almost half a century. However, it encountered unforeseen issues, spiraling into an unpredictable orbit and ultimately colliding with the lunar surface, resulting in its destruction, as reported by Roskosmos.
The incident occurred just a day after Roskosmos reported a problem in shifting Luna-25 into a pre-landing orbit. Despite efforts made on August 19 and 20 to locate and establish contact with the craft, they were unsuccessful.
The space agency had detailed that an “abnormal situation” transpired during an attempt to adjust the craft’s trajectory into a pre-landing orbit at 11:10 GMT on Saturday. This maneuver was meant to pave the way for a planned touchdown set for August 21. Roskosmos conveyed in a brief statement.
“During the operation, an abnormal situation occurred on board the automatic station, which did not allow to be performed with the specified parameters. Communication with Luna-25 was lost at 11:57 GMT on Saturday.”
Luna-25 had a projected duration of one year on the moon, designated for soil sampling and water exploration—key components for potential rocket fuel production in forthcoming launches and to support potential lunar colonies. The Lander was equipped with cameras that had captured images of the lunar surface.
Roskosmos has disclosed plans to launch an investigation into the underlying causes of the crash, refraining from indicating any technical issues that might have precipitated the incident.
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