Luna – 25 was Russia’s first Moon mission in 50 Years: Ends in Failure.
Russia’s recent lunar mission, known as Luna-25, marked the country’s return to moon exploration after nearly half a century. This unmanned spacecraft had an ambitious goal – to become the first ever to touch down on the Moon’s south pole, a region of significant scientific interest due to the possibility of finding frozen water and valuable elements.
However, Luna-25 encountered serious issues as it moved closer to its landing site, ultimately resulting in its failure. Russia’s state space agency, Roscosmos, confirmed the loss of contact with the spacecraft shortly after 2:57 PM local time on a Saturday.
According to Roscosmos, Luna-25 deviated from its planned orbit and tragically collided with the lunar surface. A special investigation will delve into the reasons behind this mission’s unfortunate end.
This mission was part of a race to the Moon’s south pole, with India’s Chandrayaan-3 set to land in the same area just a week later. While the United States and China have previously landed on the Moon, this region remains uncharted territory.
Russia’s last lunar mission was in 1976, during the days of the Soviet Union. That mission, Luna-24, also successfully landed on the Moon.
Exploring the Moon’s south pole is of great interest to scientists due to the larger shadowed areas there, making it more likely to find water, a critical resource for future lunar exploration.
Now, all eyes are on India’s Chandrayaan-3, scheduled to make its historic south pole landing this week on August 23rd at 6:04 PM.”