Russian moon mission ends in disastrous crash
A Russian mission to the moon ended in failure as the spacecraft crash-landed on the lunar surface, the nation’s space agency announced Sunday.
The Luna-25 craft was attempting to make mankind’s first ever landing on the moon’s south pole. Instead, it entered an unstable orbit Saturday and sped toward destruction.
“The apparatus moved into an unpredictable orbit and ceased to exist as a result of a collision with the surface of the moon,” Roscosmos said in a statement.
Russia has not successfully landed a spacecraft on the moon since 1976, when it was still part of the Soviet Union. No Russian man or woman ever set foot on the lunar surface.
Luna-25 was racing against an Indian spacecraft, Chandrayaan-3, to become the first to reach the moon’s south pole. Luna-25 was supposed to land Monday, while Chandrayaan-3 is scheduled to reach the surface on Wednesday.
“India’s Chandrayaan-3 is set to land on the moon on August 23,” India’s space agency tweeted shortly after news of the Russian crash broke. India is seeking to become the fourth nation to land a craft on the moon, following the USSR, United States and China.
Along with the race to the south pole, Luna-25 was supposed to revitalize the Russian space program, which last reached the moon with Luna-24 in 1976. It took off on Aug. 10 from Vostochny Cosmodrome in Siberia with high hopes.
Instead, the craft’s thrusters misfired while it was in lunar orbit, according to CBS News. Communications between mission control and the lander were cut off, and it spiraled into a disastrous orbit.
Russia’s post-Soviet space program also experienced crushing failures in 1996 with Mars-96 and 2011 with Phobos-Grunt. Those missions both crash-landed in the Pacific Ocean.
India has also attempted to reach the moon’s south pole before, but its Chandrayaan-2 mission crash-landed on the lunar surface in 2019.
The moon’s south pole is of particular interest to scientists because it hasn’t been explored and could possibly contain water or its building blocks. If the moon has stores of hydrogen and oxygen, it could be used as a stopover point for a future trip to Mars.
The U.S.’ own moon program, Artemis, will attempt to land humans near the lunar south pole as early as 2025. The next mission in the program will be Artemis II, scheduled to orbit the moon in 2024 with astronauts on board.
With News Wire Services
