The latest Russian spacecraft, Luna-25, has crashed into the moon after an unknown incident. This mission was initially the country's newest hope to return to the power moon race after 47 years.
In its last update via Telegram, Russian officials claimed that Luna-25 spun out of control and crashed into the lunar surface as it was on the verge of preparing for its landing.
Luna has been known as Russia's dedicated moon mission since its first launch in the late 1950s. The country is known for being the first to venture out into space.
Russia's Luna-25 Crash Into the Moon
Digital Trends reported that Russia's Luna-25 mission is now over after the massive crash on Sunday, August 20, resulting in losing the spacecraft ahead of its planned landing.
The problem occurred on Saturday, August 19, as the spacecraft was repositioning itself and undergoing a maneuver to adjust for pre-landing orbit.
Russian space agency Roscosmos later announced via Telegram that the spacecraft had been lost after it crashed into the Lunar surface, ending the country's supposed return to the moon. Its landing had been planned for Monday.
The Luna mission is known for being the pioneer in traveling to the moon, with Russia first launching it in January 1959. However, the Luna-25 spacecraft missed its chance to cling to the lunar orbit and was ultimately a failure.
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What Happened to the Luna-25 Spacecraft of Russia?
According to reports, it is still unknown what the cause of the crash of Luna-25 is or why it spun in an uncontrolled orbit and crashed into the moon's surface.
Roscosmos only said that an "emergency situation" had occurred with the Luna-25 spacecraft before it was able to land on the moon. The agency has already formed a special inter-departmental group to investigate the reasons behind the loss of the uncrewed spacecraft.
Russia's Space Missions
After 47 years since its first moon mission, Russia has announced its plan to launch the Luna-25 lander, and its mission was to land on the lunar south pole, a region where no spacecraft had landed before.
Craters in this area were found with water ice, which would be an important resource for future crewed missions to the moon. Despite Russia's massive problems amid its infamous conflict with Ukraine, which is still ongoing, the Eurasian country was still active in its space ventures.
It actively participates in International Space Station (ISS) missions, where Russian cosmonauts are still on active duty. Recently, Russian Sergey Prokopyev, commander of Expedition 69 crew aboard the ISS, made history by becoming the first cosmonaut to travel on a robotic arm while doing a spacewalk at the ISS.
The Russian mission is racing against the recently-launched Indian mission Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft, which also aims to land on the moon's south pole this week. Moscow is also racing against the United States and China, which also have an interest in visiting the moon in recent years.
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