Russian Lunar Mission Ends in Crash as Spacecraft Collides with Moon after Almost Half a Century

A Russian spacecraft crashes into the moon

A Russian spacecraft, the Luna-25 lander, crashed into the moon before its planned landing to test landing technology and search for water. This would have been the first Russian craft to reach the moon since the 1970s. However, contact was lost during the mission, resulting in the crash, according to Roscosmos, Russia's state space corporation.

Investigation into the crash

The Luna-25, a Russian space mission, has crashed on the Moon's surface due to a collision, according to Roscosmos. This incident is being investigated by a commission to determine the cause of the crash. This is the latest in a series of Russian space missions that have encountered problems. The previous Russian moon exploration mission took place in 1976 with the launch of Luna-24.

Exploring the moon's south pole

Russia's space corporation, Roscosmos, had planned a mission called Luna-25 to demonstrate their capability of delivering a payload to the moon and secure guaranteed access to its surface. The spacecraft was intended to land on the moon's south pole, a region that no other spacecraft has successfully reached. This area is believed to potentially contain valuable elements and frozen water.

Searching for water on the moon

Scientists from the Russian Academy of Sciences are planning a mission to search for water on the moon. The goal is to confirm the presence of water and study its abundance. The mission is part of Russia's efforts to explore the moon and potentially establish a lunar base in the future.

Challenges faced by Russia's space program

Russia has been dealing with technological and financial difficulties, which have been worsened by the expenses of the war with Ukraine and economic sanctions imposed by Western nations. These challenges have affected the country's space program, with a 90-year-old physicist expressing disappointment over the failure to land a spacecraft on the moon, seeing it as a missed opportunity for the revival of Russia's lunar program.

Potential collaborations and India's upcoming mission

Russia and China are considering collaborating on future space missions, including Lunar-26, Lunar-27, and Lunar-28. Meanwhile, India is set to launch its Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft on August 23, with the aim of landing on the moon. If successful, India will become the fourth country to achieve this feat, following the United States, the Soviet Union, and China. It is worth noting that a previous Indian spacecraft crashed into the moon in 2019.