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Russia’s recent attempt to reach the Moon with the Luna-25 probe has unfortunately ended in failure. The probe, which was Russia’s first Moon mission in nearly 50 years, crashed onto the Moon due to problems during its landing preparations, as stated by the Russian space agency Roscosmos on August 20th.
The connection with the Luna-25 probe was lost at 2:57 pm on Saturday, according to Roscosmos. Initial investigations show that the probe collided with the Moon’s surface and has been destroyed.
An unexpected issue occurred on August 20th while the probe was getting ready to shift to its intended orbit for landing. Roscosmos explained that an abnormal situation happened on the probe, preventing it from completing its planned maneuvers.
A team of experts is now investigating what went wrong during this Moon mission.
The Luna-25 probe was launched into space by a Soyuz 2.1 rocket from the Vostochny Cosmodrome on August 11th. The rocket took off at 2:11 a.m. Moscow time. Just over an hour later, the probe left Earth’s orbit and started its journey toward the Moon. On August 16th, it successfully entered the Moon’s orbit. The plan was for the probe to gently land on the Moon’s surface on August 21st.
This mission’s failure is disappointing for Russia. It highlights how Russia’s space capabilities have decreased since its significant achievements during the Cold War, like launching the first satellite, Sputnik 1, in 1957, and sending Yuri Gagarin into space in 1961.
Russia hasn’t tried a Moon mission since 1976 when Luna-24 was launched during the time of Leonid Brezhnev’s leadership. Luna-25 was aiming to land softly on the Moon’s south pole on August 21st.
Russia faces competition from other countries like China and the United States, both of which have ambitious Moon missions. For instance, Chandrayaan-3, a spacecraft from India, is set to land on the Moon’s south pole soon.
This failed mission also adds to the challenges Russia’s economy is facing. The country’s economy, valued at $2 trillion, has been dealing with strong sanctions imposed by the West. These sanctions have particularly affected Russia’s high-tech sectors, which often rely on imports. However, President Vladimir Putin believes that Russia’s economy is still strong.
Throughout the past thirty years, Russia had different plans for Moon missions, but they were delayed due to the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991 and the subsequent economic and political turmoil. The 2011 Fobos-Grunt mission to one of Mars’s moons also didn’t succeed, showing the difficulties Russia’s space program has faced. The mission couldn’t leave Earth’s orbit and ended up falling back to Earth, crashing into the Pacific Ocean in 2012.
In the early 2010s, Russia decided on the Luna-25 mission to the Moon’s south pole as its next space exploration project.
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