ANALYSIS – It was to be a historic moment for Russia. Its first trip to the moon in almost 50 years. Launched on August 11 aboard a Soyuz-2 Fregat rocket, Luna 25, a robotic lander, was going to explore the moon’s south polar region, which would create problems for American plans for future lunar bases in the same region.
The lunar south pole is strategically vital since the craters there, permanently shadowed away from the sun, may contain water. The frozen water in the rocks could be transformed into air and rocket fuel.
Luna 25, also called the Luna-Glob-Lander, launched from the Vostochny Cosmodrome in Russia’s Amur Oblast. It was going to study the composition of the moon’s soil and the very thin lunar exosphere. (RELATED: US And Europe Each Launching Space Probes To Uncover ‘Dark Universe’)
It was meant to be Russia’s first lunar landing mission in 47 years. Russia’s last moon mission, Luna 24, landed on the surface of the moon on August 18, 1976.
But Russia’s lunar ambitions took a big hit when the Russians lost contact with Luna 25 and it spun into an uncontrolled orbit prior to landing and crashed onto the moon’s surface.
‘Moscow, we have a problem.’
“The apparatus moved into an unpredictable orbit and ceased to exist as a result of a collision with the surface of the moon,” said Roscosmos, the Russian space agency, on Sunday.
(I like how the Russians used the term ‘ceased to exist.’)
Roscosmos added in a Telegram post: “During the operation, an abnormal situation occurred on board the automatic station, which did not allow the maneuver to be performed with the specified parameters.”
As I wrote about earlier, the Russians were also racing to land on the moon ahead of India’s Chandrayaan 3 lunar spacecraft. Both were headed to the moon’s south pole.
Even though India’s Chandrayaan-3 lunar lander launched earlier than the Russian mission, in mid-July, Luna 25’s trajectory allowed it to overtake the Indian spacecraft on the way to the lunar surface.
The Indian spacecraft may be attempting its landing as soon as Wednesday, August 23.
Chandrayaan-3’s landing could mark India’s first successful lunar touchdown. Its most recent attempt ended in failure when Chandrayaan-2 crash-landed in September 2019.
Russia’s Luna 25 had eight scientific instruments, including spectrometers. One was intended to study the lunar soil, and another to detect surface water, according to NASA.
Unlike Russia’s stationary lander, India’s Chandrayaan-3 has a lander, propulsion module and robotic rover that can traverse the lunar terrain, allowing it to go out and explore.
The Russian failure follows Europe’s decision last year to end space cooperation efforts with Russia.
As CNN reported: “Initially, Roscosmos and the European Space Agency planned to partner on Luna 25, as well as Luna 26, Luna 27 and the ExoMars rover.”
But that partnership ceased in April 2022 after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and the ESA Council moved to “discontinue cooperative activities with Russia.”
Had the Europeans been involved, the Russian mission may have had a greater chance of success.
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of American Liberty News.
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Must be the Russian lander was Made in China!
Apparently Luna 25 experienced a RUD (Rapid Unscheduled Disassembly).
“I like how the Russians use the term ‘ceased to exist.'”
It’s a way of life over there.
I’d let Russia/China/India go to the moon and see if there is water there. If so, then we can make plans to go. And if not, oh well. At least we didn’t waste any money on a non-productive mission..