Russia's Luna-25 spacecraft crashes into Moon

[6Foot2]

Link: Russia's Luna-25 spacecraft crashes into Moon - BBC News

 

Russia's unmanned Luna-25 spacecraft has crashed into the Moon after spinning out of control, officials say.

 

It was Russia's first Moon mission in almost 50 years.

 

The craft was due to be the first ever to land on the Moon's south pole, but failed after encountering problems as it moved into its pre-landing orbit.

 

It was set to explore a part of the Moon which scientists think could hold frozen water and precious elements.

 

Roscosmos, Russia's state space corporation, said on Sunday morning that it had lost contact with the Luna-25 shortly after 14:57pm (11:57 GMT) on Saturday.

 

Preliminary findings showed that the 800kg lander had "ceased to exist as a result of a collision with the surface of the Moon", it said in a statement.

 

It said a special commission would look into why the mission failed.

 

The loss of Luna-25 is a blow to Roscosmos. Russia's civilian space programme has been in decline for several years, as state funding is increasingly directed towards the military.

 

Russia was racing to the Moon's south pole against India, whose Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft is scheduled to land there in the coming days and send a rover to explore the rocks and craters, gathering data and images to send back to Earth.

 

Parts of the Moon's south pole remain permanently in shadow, which makes finding water a possibility.

 

A spokesperson for the Indian space agency Isro described the Luna-25 crash as "unfortunate".

 

"Every space mission is very risky and highly technical. It's unfortunate that Luna-25 has crashed," they told the BBC.

 

Roscosmos had acknowledged that the Luna-25 mission was risky and could fail. The craft launched from Vostochny Cosmodrome in the far eastern Amur region of Russia on 11 August, and then successfully entered the moon's orbit on Wednesday of this week.

 

It was expected to make history by making a soft landing on Monday or Tuesday, just days before the Indian touchdown.

 

No country has ever landed on the Moon's south pole before, although both the US and China have landed softly on the Moon's surface.

 

Luna-25 was Russia's first Moon mission since 1976, when it was part of the Soviet Union. That mission, Luna-24, landed successfully.

[Ditto]

I'm just hoping no Clangers were injured.

[3s-gtech]

Crash was purpose. Glorious Russian rockets impossible to fail. Never fail.

 

Mission was great success.

 

*Russian press releases have taken a reliability downturn in the last few years*

[FN-GM]

I'm just hoping no Clangers were injured.

 

If they will claim it’s the Ukraines fault.

[FN-GM]

Ignore my autocorrect fail…

[6Foot2]

Ignore my autocorrect fail…

 

Also:

 

Ignore our moonshot fail.

 

[mikeprice]

I'm just hoping no Clangers were injured.

 

I was going with "someone dropped a Clanger" but that'll do instead!

[jmak]

Meanwhile....

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-66425524

 

[emoji1696][emoji1128]

[6Foot2]

Meanwhile....

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-66425524

 

[emoji1696][emoji1128]

 

Meanwhile to your meanwhile (if that's a thing... )

 

Link: Chandrayaan-3: India makes historic landing near Moon's south pole - BBC News

 

India has made history as its Moon mission becomes the first to land in the lunar south pole region.

 

With this, India joins an elite club of countries to achieve a soft landing on the Moon, after the US, the former Soviet Union and China.

 

The Vikram lander from Chandrayaan-3 successfully touched down as planned at 18:04 local time (12:34 GMT).

 

Celebrations have broken out across the country, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying "India is now on the Moon".

 

"We have reached where no other country could. It's a joyous occasion," he added. Mr Modi was watching the event live from South Africa where he is attending the Brics summit.

 

Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) chief Sreedhara Panicker Somanath said the successful landing "is not our work alone, this is the work of a generation of Isro scientists".

 

India's achievement comes just days after Russia's Luna-25 spacecraft spun out of control and crashed into the Moon.

 

The crash also put the spotlight on how difficult it is to land in the south pole region where the surface is "very uneven" and "full of craters and boulders".

 

India's second lunar mission, which also attempted to soft-land there in 2019, was unsuccessful - its lander and rover were destroyed, though its orbiter survived.

 

On Wednesday, tense moments preceded the touchdown as the lander - called Vikram after Isro founder Vikram Sarabhai - began its precarious descent, carrying within its belly the 26kg rover named Pragyaan (the Sanskrit word for wisdom).

 

The lander's speed was gradually reduced from 1.68km per second to almost zero, enabling it to make a soft landing on the lunar surface.

 

In a few hours - scientists say once the dust has settled - the six-wheeled rover will crawl out of the lander's belly and roam around the rocks and craters on the Moon's surface, gathering crucial data and images to be sent to Earth...