Russia’s long-awaited lunar mission, signaling its resurgence in lunar exploration after decades, has experienced a disheartening blow due to the unfortunate crash of its spacecraft Luna-25.
The Luna 25 spacecraft, poised for a historic journey, has suffered a significant setback with a crash on the lunar surface. This incident has dealt a blow to Russia’s space ambitions and unfolded due to a breakdown in communication with the autonomous spacecraft.
Roscosmos, the Russian space agency, reported the loss of contact with Luna 25 on Saturday at approximately 14:57 Moscow time.
Despite dedicated efforts made on August 19 and 20 to locate the spacecraft and restore communication, these attempts proved fruitless, leaving Roscosmos without a means to communicate with the craft.
Luna 25 was launched with the aim of achieving a soft landing on the moon’s south pole. Unfortunately, it experienced a crash upon the lunar surface. Confirming this unfortunate event, Roscosmos acknowledged on Sunday that the crash was a result of a discrepancy between the spacecraft’s actual trajectory and the calculated parameters of its propulsion maneuver. This deviation led Luna 25 into an unintended orbit, culminating in a regrettable collision with the lunar surface.
Following the Luna-25 flight program on August 19, a maneuver was executed to establish its elliptical orbit in preparation for landing. However, around 14:57 Moscow time, communication with the Luna-25 spacecraft was unexpectedly severed. Despite efforts made on both August 19 and 20 to locate the craft and re-establish communication, no positive outcomes were achieved, as stated by the Roscosmos State Space Corporation on its official Telegram channel.
The space agency has formed an interdepartmental commission to investigate the factors contributing to the unfortunate failure of Luna 25.
The crash occurred hours after the Russian space agency disclosed an “abnormal situation” with Luna 25. The agency revealed that the spacecraft encountered an unspecified complication while attempting to enter its intended pre-landing orbit. The exact nature of this issue remains unclear, and the agency’s specialists are currently conducting a comprehensive examination and assessment of the situation.
“In the course of the operation, an unforeseen situation arose within the automatic station, preventing the intended maneuver from being executed as per the prescribed parameters,” conveyed Roscosmos in a Telegram post.
Does the crash of Luna-25 affect the schedule of Chandrayaan-3?
The Luna-25 crash will not impact the Chandrayaan-3 schedule, as India’s lunar mission continues to make steady progress towards achieving a graceful landing on the moon’s south pole on August 23rd. The landing date and precise timing have been officially confirmed by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) for 6:04 PM (IST). ISRO has also successfully executed the second and final deboosting maneuver for Chandrayaan-3.
In a tweet, ISRO reported that the second and final deboosting maneuver has effectively altered the lunar module’s orbit to 25km X 134km. Subsequently, the module will undergo internal checks and remain at the designated landing site until sunrise. The powered descent is anticipated to commence around 17:45 (IST) on August 23, 2023.
