The Luna-25 probe, Russia's first Moon mission in almost 50 years, has crashed on the Moon after an incident during pre-landing manoeuvres, Russian space agency Roscosmos said on Sunday.
Communication with Luna-25 was lost at 2:57 pm (1157 GMT) on Saturday, Roscosmos said.
According to preliminary findings, the lander "has ceased to exist following a collision with the Moon's surface".
"Measures taken on August 19 and 20 to locate the craft and make contact with it were unsuccessful," the space agency added.
It said a ministerial investigation would be launched into the causes of the crash, without giving any indication of what technical problems might have occurred.
With Luna-25, Moscow had hoped to build on the legacy of its Soviet-era Luna programme, marking a return to independent lunar exploration in the face of financial troubles and corruption scandals at the programme and growing isolation from the West.
The 800-kilogram Luna-25 probe was to have made a soft landing on Monday on the lunar south pole -- the first in history.
Russia has not attempted to land on a celestial body since 1989, when the Soviet Union's ill-fated Phobos 2 probe to explore the moons of Mars failed due to an onboard computer malfunction.
Roscosmos boss Yuri Borisov had said the venture would be "risky", telling President Vladimir Putin in June that the probability of it succeeding was "around 70 percent".
Luna-25 had been successfully placed in the Moon's orbit on Wednesday after being launched from the Vostochny cosmodrome in the Russian Far East.
- Space race -
But on Saturday, Roscosmos said an "emergency" had been detected during a manoeuvre by the probe prior to its Moon landing, preventing the operation from being carried out.
Luna-25 had been expected to stay on the Moon for a year, collecting soil samples and looking for water -- an ingredient enthusiasts hope could be used to make rocket fuel for future launches and support potential colonies living there.
Cameras installed on the lander have already taken shots of the lunar surface.
Doubts have overshadowed Russia's long-running space cooperation with the West over its military campaign in Ukraine.
While Russia has said it intends to use the International Space Station until 2028, the European Space Agency (ESA) has dropped plans to co-operate with Moscow on Moon and Mars missions.
Moscow last landed a probe -- Luna-24 -- on the Moon in 1976 and then shifted away from lunar exploration in favour of missions to Venus and building the Mir space station.
Landing Luna-25 successfully would have paved the way for further Russian missions to the Moon, at a time when India and China are launching their own probes and the United States returns to manned missions.
India's competing space probe, Chandrayaan-3, entered the Moon's orbit earlier in August and also hopes to land on the south pole.
Only Russia, the United States and China have previously achieved a controlled landing on the Moon.
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Analyst Summary
: The Luna 25 probe, Russias first Moon mission in almost 50 years, experienced an incident during pre-landing manoeuvres and crashed on the Moon. The 800-kilogram probe was expected to stay on the Moon for a year and collect soil samples, but communication with it was lost on Saturday. A ministerial investigation will be launched into the cause of the crash, but no indication of technical problems has been given. The mission was meant to build upon the legacy of the Soviet Unions Luna program, and was seen as a return to independent exploration in light of financial troubles and growing isolation from the West.In the past 25 years, the space and defense industry has seen a range of significant events, trends, and innovations, from the U.S.’s establishment of the International Space Station to the development of commercial space flight. These advances have largely been spearheaded by the U.S., with Russia lagging behind. Thus, while Luna 25 was an impressive attempt to re-establish Russias presence in the space industry, the missions failure is in line with the countrys limited progress over the past 25 years.Investigative
Question:
- 1. What were the specific technical problems that caused the Luna 25 mission to fail?
- 2. How will the failure of the Luna 25 mission affect Russias space industry in the future?
- 3.
What measures can be taken to ensure the success of future Russian space missions?4. What other space exploration initiatives is Russia currently undertaking?
5. How have the U.S. and other countries advanced in the space and defense industry in the past 25 years, and how does Russia compare?
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