Russia
“Unplanned situation”: Russian space probe “Luna-25” crashed on the moon
The Soyuz 2.1b rocket lifts off with the Luna-25 automated lunar lander from a launch pad at the Vostochny Cosmodrome in Russia’s Far East
© Roscosmos State Space Corporation/ / DPA
Russia’s first lunar mission in 50 years has failed: the “Luna-25” probe crashed onto the lunar surface.
Russia’s first lunar mission in almost 50 years has failed. The “Luna-25” probe had hit the lunar surface after an “unplanned situation” and had ceased to exist, the Russian space agency Roskosmos announced on Sunday in Moscow. The reasons for the loss of the probe would be clarified, it said. A commission will be set up for this purpose. The first spacecraft since 1979 was supposed to land on the moon’s south pole this Monday.
Russia wanted to prove its strength with the mission
The proud space nation wanted to show that despite the war against Ukraine and the sanctions imposed by the West, it is still capable of scientific excellence. After the successful launch of the probe on August 11, Russian politicians emphasized that the country would not be defeated.
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Unscheduled situation on board
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.
“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 1,800-kilogram missile has been looking for a suitable landing site. On Thursday, Roskosmos presented a photo of the moon’s surface taken by the probe.
It was the first moon mission since the Soviet space probe “Luna-24” in 1976. Actually, “Luna” should have been on the road a long time ago. The first planned launch date for a lunar probe was 2012. Last year, another launch was planned for May, which was then 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.