August 21, 2023
1 min read

Russia’s Luna-25 mission fails, spacecraft smashes on Moon

Russia’s last lunar mission, Luna-24 was launched in 1976, during the former Soviet Union period. With Luna-25, Russia aimed to be the first nation to make a soft landing on the lunar south pole…reports Asian Lite News

Russia’s space agency Roscosmos has said that its Luna-25 spacecraft crashed into the moon after it ran into “unspecified trouble”, the media reported on Sunday.

While entering a pre-landing orbit, the spacecraft ran into unspecified issues and “spun into an uncontrolled orbit”, reports Mirror. Earlier, the spacecraft encountered an “abnormal situation” as it was preparing to transfer to its pre-landing orbit to the moon.

“During the operation an emergency occurred on the space probe that did not allow it to perform the manoeuvre in accordance with the required parameters,” Roscosmos said in a statement on Saturday.

The Luna-25 entered the moon’s orbit on Wednesday. Luna-25 took off atop a Soyuz-2.1b rocket from the Vostochny launch facility in Russia at 2.10 a.m. Moscow time (4.40 a.m. IST) on August 11, TASS news agency reported.

Russia’s last lunar mission, Luna-24 was launched in 1976, during the former Soviet Union period. With Luna-25, Russia aimed to be the first nation to make a soft landing on the lunar south pole.

Moreover, Luna-25 was slated to touch down around the same time, and in the same general area, as India’s Chandrayaan 3 probe, which launched on July 14 and arrived in lunar orbit on August 6.

Media reports quoted Roscosmos as saying that the Luna-25 will not impede Chandrayaan-3, as the two missions will land on different areas. It added that there was enough space on the Moon for everyone.

Meanwhile, the US space agency NASA also plans to establish one or bases near the moon’s south pole by the end of the 2020s, via its Artemis programme.

Luna-25 is expected to reach the Moon’s orbit on August 16 before landing on August 21.

ALSO READ-‘China, Russia aiming to steal tech from US space companies’

Previous Story

UK to spend £100m in global race to produce AI chips

Next Story

Zelenskyy visits Netherlands, Denmark; hails pact on F-16 aircrafts

Latest from -Top News

Ramaphosa gains from US showdown

South African President’s conduct with Trump reminded South Africans of his diplomatic pedigree, and of his importance to the country’s rules-based order South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa and his delegation went to

Armed gangs kill dozens in Nigeria

A local state governor said “scores” of people had been killed in the attacks, which also saw homes and properties destroyed. Northeast Nigeria has been gripped by a deadly wave of violence

Children die as USAID aid cuts snap a lifeline

Trump administration cut more than 90% of USAID’s foreign aid contracts and $60 billion in overall assistance around the world. Programs serving children were hit hard Under the dappled light of a
Go toTop

Don't Miss

Prigozhin’s Demise in Plane Crash Confirmed

The identities of all 10 people killed in the plane

UK govt sanctions Russians over ‘deportation of Ukraine children’

Among the designations announced today are Russian officials Ksenia Mishonova,