Russia’s first mission to the lunar surface in decades has reportedly ended in failure.
The uncrewed spacecraft, Luna 25, crashed on Saturday while attempting to land on the moon’s unexplored south pole.
Roscosmos, Russia’s space agency, confirmed the crash, telling the Russian news agency TASS, “The Luna-25 spacecraft switched to an off-design orbit and ceased to exist as a result of a collision with the surface of the moon.”
The spacecraft, also known as the Luna-Glob-Lander, was launched from the Vostochny Cosmodrome in Russia onboard a Soyuz-Fregat rocket on August 10.
The mission was designed to study the composition of the rocky material on the lunar surface and to study the plasma and dust components of the moon’s outer atmosphere, NASA reported.
The moon’s southern polar region is of particular interest to scientists, as it was found to have water.
The 800-kilogram (1,763.7-pound) probe contained a number of scientific instruments to complete its mission, such as the ADRON-LR gamma-ray and neutron spectrometer, the ARIES-L for the study of the exosphere, the LIS-TV-RPM infra-red spectrometer, and more.
On August 19, the Luna 25 encountered an “abnormal situation” while attempting to enter into a pre-landing orbit and subsequently lost contact with its handlers, TASS reported, per The Wall Street Journal.
Despite the loss of the moon lander, the launch did accomplish some of its objectives, according to Russian space analyst Vitaly Egorov, WFAA reported.
“Luna 25 showed important progress. It flew toward the Moon, carried out orbit correction, and tested onboard electronics and scientific tools,” said Egorov. “It even managed to collect some small scientific data during the flight and from the lunar orbit. It also sent photos of the Moon.”
Russia’s last lunar mission was the Luna 24, launched in August 1976.
Meanwhile, India’s Chandrayaan-3 orbiter, lander, and rover, which launched on July 14, is expected to make a lunar landing on August 23. India’s last attempt at a lunar landing in 2019 ended with a crash during its final descent.
