Russia's Luna-25 Spacecraft Crashes During Moon Landing Attempt

The unmanned spacecraft was on a mission to become the first to land on the moon's south pole, a region of significant scientific interest due to its potential reserves of frozen water and valuable elements. The expected landing was scheduled for Monday.

However, Roscosmos reported that communication with Luna-25 was lost on Saturday after the spacecraft encountered difficulties and reported an "abnormal situation." A statement from the agency explained, "According to the results of a preliminary analysis… the Luna-25 spacecraft switched to a non-designated orbit and ceased to operate due to a collision with the surface of the Moon."

Efforts to reestablish contact with the probe over the weekend proved unsuccessful, leading Roscosmos to announce the formation of a commission comprising representatives from multiple agencies to investigate the reasons behind the loss of the spacecraft.

Luna-25 was launched on August 11 using a Soyuz 2.1b rocket from the Vostochny Cosmodrome in Russia's Far East, marking Russia's first lunar mission since the Soviet era. The mission's primary objectives included exploring the lunar soil for signs of ice, testing soft-landing technology, and conducting extensive research on the lunar exosphere and the upper layer of the moon's south pole.

While the mission did not achieve its intended landing, it did demonstrate significant progress. Vitaly Egorov, a prominent Russian space analyst, noted, "Luna 25 showed important progress. It flew toward the Moon, carried out orbit correction, and tested onboard electronics and scientific tools. It even managed to collect some small scientific data during the flight and from the lunar orbit. Russian cosmonautics was not at this level before. But then, an error occurred somehow."

The lunar south pole remains a focus of scientific interest, with its permanently shadowed craters believed to potentially contain frozen water that could be utilized as air and rocket fuel by future explorers. Only three countries have achieved successful moon landings: the Soviet Union, the United States, and China.

This lunar mission was Russia's first since 1976 when it was part of the Soviet Union. Initially intended to carry a small moon rover, this idea was abandoned to enhance the craft's reliability by reducing its weight.