Key takeaways:
- Russia’s Luna-25 spacecraft crashed into the moon after a thruster firing went awry.
- The Luna-25 was aiming to be the first to land on the south pole of the moon.
- Roscosmos said the misfire followed problems with an earlier orbit adjustment “burn” and contact was lost with the spacecraft.
Russia’s Luna-25 spacecraft crashed into the moon on Saturday after a thruster firing went awry, according to the Russian space agency Roscosmos.
The Luna-25 was aiming to be the first ever to land on the south pole of the moon, an area where scientists believe there could be important reserves of frozen water and precious elements. However, the spacecraft spun into an uncontrolled orbit and eventually collided with the lunar surface.
Roscosmos said it lost contact with the Luna-25 after the spacecraft ran into difficulties and reported an “abnormal situation”. The agency said the misfire followed problems with an earlier orbit adjustment “burn”, but this time around, contact was lost and flight controllers were unable to re-establish communications.
The agency said in a statement that the deviation of the actual parameters of the impulse from the calculated ones caused the spacecraft to switch to an off-design orbit and cease to exist as a result of the collision.
The Luna-25 mission was part of a larger effort to explore the moon and its resources. Despite the setback, Roscosmos said it remains committed to its lunar exploration program and will continue to work towards its goals.
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