probe
“Luna-25” crashed: Moscow’s moon mission failed
The Soyuz-2.1b rocket with the Luna-25 automatic lunar landing station takes off from the launch pad at the Vostochny Cosmodrome. photo
© —/Roscosmos State Space Corporation/AP/dpa
In a race against other nations, Russia also wanted to prepare an outpost for humanity on its first lunar mission since 1976. The crash of the “Luna-25” spacecraft throws the project back.
The reasons for the loss of the probe would be clarified, it said. A commission will be set up for this purpose. The first Russian lunar probe since 1976 was supposed to land at the south pole of the moon this Monday after the successful launch on August 11th.
Contact with the 1,800-kilogram device, which was equipped with cameras and complex technology, was lost on Saturday afternoon. According to Roskosmos, experts are still trying to reconnect and find the probe. The failure of the first moon mission since the Soviet era means a serious setback in the race with other nations for the proud space nation Russia. The probe should also look for water in ice form on the moon.
India and the south side of the moon
Last week, India took an important step on its new moon mission. The Indian space agency ISRO announced on Thursday that the landing module of the “Chandrayaan-3” probe had been successfully separated. “Chandrayaan-3” was launched in mid-July. If all goes according to plan, the lander should touch down on the lunar surface on August 23 or 24. So far, only the USA, the Soviet Union and China have managed a soft landing. “Chandrayaan” means “lunar vehicle” in Sanskrit.
With the unmanned mission, India wants to explore the south side of the moon, which has hardly been studied, for around two weeks. A first attempt failed in 2019. During the mission, the landing module also crashed onto the surface of the moon. The Russian state news agency Tass reported on Sunday that since 2018, nine international moon missions have failed or in some cases not been successful – including the new crash.
With “Luna-25” Russia wanted to show that it is capable of top scientific achievements despite the war against Ukraine and despite the pressure from Western sanctions. After the successful launch of the probe from the Vostochny cosmodrome in the Amur region, Russian politicians emphasized that the country would not be defeated.
On Saturday, Roskosmos initially reported an unexpected incident. The probe was scheduled to enter a new orbit of the Earth’s satellite at 2:10 p.m. Moscow time (1:10 p.m. CEST) on Saturday, in preparation for imminent touchdown on the lunar surface. “During the operation, an unscheduled situation arose on board the automatic station, which did not allow the maneuver to be carried out under the given parameters,” it said. On Sunday, Roskosmos then reported the failure of the mission.
In search of a landing place
“Luna-25” was part of the Russian lunar program, which envisages the construction of its own space station on the celestial body by 2040. The probe was launched more than a week ago and entered orbit around the moon last Wednesday. Since then, according to Russian information, the missile has been looking for a suitable landing site. On Thursday, Roskosmos presented a photo of the moon’s surface taken by the probe.
Actually, “Luna” should have been on the road for a long time. The first scheduled launch date for a lunar probe was 2012. Last year another launch was planned for May, but this was delayed again due to technical problems. Roskosmos originally worked with the European space agency Esa on the moon program. However, after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, ESA ended cooperation with Moscow.
In doing so, Roscosmos continued its Soviet “Luna” program, which began in 1959. Space probes had also brought moon rocks to earth. According to Roskosmos, “Luna-25” had, among other things, the task of collecting and analyzing soil samples from the moon on the one-year mission.
Race of the systems
In Soviet times, the proud space nation made history several times. The Soviet Union was the first country in space and in 1961 also sent the first human into the cosmos. In 1959 it was the first country in the world to reach the surface of the moon. In the race between systems to explore space, however, the USA was the country that succeeded in 1969 with Apollo 11, the first manned moon mission.
At the end of 2022, the USA took an important step towards the return of humans to the moon. An unnamed capsule traveled through space, flew around the moon and landed in the Pacific as planned. Next, three men and one woman are to fly around the moon with NASA’s “Artemis 2” mission in November 2024.
With regard to manned moon landings, the USA is further ahead than Russia and also than China, Nasa boss Bill Nelson said before the “Luna 25” start. Roskosmos has already announced the next unmanned missions “Luna-26” by 2027, “Luna-27” by 2028 and “Luna-28” by 2030. This Wednesday, Russia wants to launch a new space freighter of the type Progress with supplies on the way to the International Space Station with a Soyuz rocket.