Russian Luna-25 Crashes into Moon

[LadyTevar]

Russian Unmaned Lunar Drone Crashlands on Moon

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.

[Broomstick]

Space Is Hard.

And, as it happens, the surface of the Moon is even harder.

Launching and landing items onto other celestial surfaces is difficult and there are plenty of examples of failures even among the most accomplished nations/teams. I expect this to be a temporary setback for the Russian space program.

[The_Saint]

Space Is Hard.

And, as it happens, the surface of the Moon is even harder.

Launching and landing items onto other celestial surfaces is difficult and there are plenty of examples of failures even among the most accomplished nations/teams. I expect this to be a temporary setback for the Russian space program.

I actually do wonder if this will have long term effects on Russian space science/exploration. Nothing says 'cut budgets' to politicians like failure and as already noted in this thread the Roscosmos budget has been heavily eroded since the heady days of MIR. Particularly being shortly followed by an Indian lander (assuming that all goes well) it really closes the door on Roscosmos being able to trade on their deep institutional knowledge if other countries wanting a cheap ride to space have options.

[LadyTevar]

Space Is Hard.

And, as it happens, the surface of the Moon is even harder.

Launching and landing items onto other celestial surfaces is difficult and there are plenty of examples of failures even among the most accomplished nations/teams. I expect this to be a temporary setback for the Russian space program.

I actually do wonder if this will have long term effects on Russian space science/exploration. Nothing says 'cut budgets' to politicians like failure and as already noted in this thread the Roscosmos budget has been heavily eroded since the heady days of MIR. Particularly being shortly followed by an Indian lander (assuming that all goes well) it really closes the door on Roscosmos being able to trade on their deep institutional knowledge if other countries wanting a cheap ride to space have options.

I've heard a lot of parts for Roscosmos rockets are being repurposed for Military Use, and much of their budget also redirected towards the War Effort. I really think they only reason they're still up and running is Putin wants the prestige of having a Space Program.

[Zaune]

I'm honestly surprised they went ahead with the launch at all, although I probably shouldn't be. Too many fragile egos at the top to suggest they should put it on hold until the current unpleasantness is over with, one way or another.

[Solauren]

Also, it's a distraction for the populace.

If it had worked.

Now, it's a massive backfire.

[EnterpriseSovereign]

I'm sensing a pattern here

[LadyTevar]

I'm sensing a pattern here

"WE DO THIS FOR THE GLORY OF RUSSIA!" (cue massive failure)

Yeah.. things are not working that well for them.

Any word on the Indian rocket?

[LaCroix]

AAAAND....

Russian scientist who was key consultant for the lunar mission ends up in hospital.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/worl ... 96439.html

To be fair, he is 90, so it could be just the stress of the whole thing that did him in, but the general trend is kept alive (pun intended)

[Ralin]

I'm honestly surprised they went ahead with the launch at all, although I probably shouldn't be. Too many fragile egos at the top to suggest they should put it on hold until the current unpleasantness is over with, one way or another.

Wouldn't be surprised if it was more desperation than ego. Their funding was already being slashed. Best way to avoid more cuts would be to produce results they could point to.

[Jub]

The Russians aren't content with just blowing up Ukraine, now they're blasting the moon too.

[Eternal_Freedom]

I have a sudden, dreadful premonition of what it would be like if the probe worked. Sends back beautiful shots of the Moon's far side...then cuts to footage from Iron Sky showing the secret Nazi moonbase, and Putin announcing that since it's full of Nazi's they'll have to launch another "special operation" to deal with it.

Utter absurdity, granted...but you can all see it too can't you?

[Zaune]

On the plus side, that would at least be an incentive to admit the whole Ukraine business was a damn silly idea and come to some sort of agreement on the grounds that both sides have much, much bigger problems now.

[Solauren]

After thinking about it for awhile, this is probably going to cripple Russia's space program.

A successful launch would have justified continued funding even when Russia is losing military assets and money via the invasion of the Ukraine.

However now, which does Russia need more? Another probe launch, or bullets?

[LaCroix]

In Russia, it never is about "what is needed", but "what would make us look better" (and allow us to steal a lot of funds in the process)

[Spice Runner]

"WE DO THIS FOR THE GLORY OF RUSSIA!" (cue massive failure)

Yeah.. things are not working that well for them.

Any word on the Indian rocket?

Word is the Indian lander has successfully touched down near the south pole of the moon about an hour and half ago.

Now waiting for the moon rover to start come out

[EnterpriseSovereign]

"WE DO THIS FOR THE GLORY OF RUSSIA!" (cue massive failure)

Yeah.. things are not working that well for them.

Any word on the Indian rocket?

Word is the Indian lander has successfully touched down near the south pole of the moon about an hour and half ago.

Now waiting for the moon rover to start come out

Basically India did what Russia failed to do. If there is water there, hopefully they find it!

[Spice Runner]

Word is the Indian lander has successfully touched down near the south pole of the moon about an hour and half ago.

Now waiting for the moon rover to start come out

Basically India did what Russia failed to do. If there is water there, hopefully they find it!

Yes Russia seems like they rushed their process whereas India took our sweet time and made several improvements from the last failed attempt in 2019.

Anyways the more of humanity gets into space the more benefit for all humanity. Hope we find some cool stuff at the south pole of the moon.