File photo of a picture taken from the camera of the lunar landing spacecraft Luna-25 during its flight to the moon shows the mission emblem and the bucket of the lunar manipulator complex.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

The head of Russia’s space agency said on August 21 that the Luna-25 spacecraft crashed into the moon after its engines failed to shut down correctly, and he blamed the country’s decades-long pause in lunar exploration for the mishap.

The pilotless Luna-25 had been scheduled to land on August 21 while aiming to become the first spacecraft to touch down on the south pole of the moon, an area where scientists believe important reserves of frozen water and precious elements may exist.

Roscosmos Director General Yury Borisov said the spacecraft’s engines were turned on over the weekend to put Luna-25 into a “pre-landing orbit” but did not shut down properly, plunging the lander onto the moon.

“Instead of the planned 84 seconds, it worked for 127 seconds. This was the main reason for the emergency,” Borisov told Russian state news channel Russia 24.

Roscosmos had contact with the spacecraft until 2:57 p.m. local time Saturday, when communication was lost and “the device passed into an open lunar orbit and crashed into the surface of the moon,” he said.

The lunar mission was Russia’s first since 1976, when it was part of the Soviet Union. Only three countries have managed successful moon landings: the Soviet Union, the United States and China.

“The negative experience of interrupting the lunar program for almost 50 years is the main reason for the failures,” Borisov said, adding “it would be the worst decision ever” for Russia to end the program now.

The Luna-25 was in a race with an Indian spacecraft launched on July 14 to be the first to reach the south pole. Both were expected to reach the moon between August 21 and August 23.

A previous Indian attempt to land at the moon’s south pole in 2019 ended when the spacecraft crashed into the moon’s surface.

Luna-25 launched from the Vostochny Cosmodrome in Russia’s Far East on August 10. The spaceport is a pet project of Russian President Vladimir Putin and key to his efforts to make Russia a space superpower.

Before the launch, Roscosmos said it wanted to show Russia “is a state capable of delivering a payload to the moon,” and “ensure Russia’s guaranteed access to the moon’s surface.” Following the crash, the Russian space agency said the moon mission was about ensuring long-term “defense capability” as well as “technological sovereignty.” “The race to develop the moon’s natural resources has begun,” Borisov said Monday. “In the future, the moon will become an ideal platform for the exploration of deep space.” Sanctions imposed on Russia since it launched a war in Ukraine nearly 18 months ago have affected its space programme, making it more difficult to access Western technology.

The Luna-25 was initially meant to carry a small moon rover, but the idea was abandoned to reduce the weight of the craft for improved reliability, analysts said.

The lunar south pole is of particular interest to scientists, who believe the permanently shadowed polar craters may contain frozen water in the rocks that future explorers could transform into air and rocket fuel..

A picture taken from the camera of the lunar landing spacecraft Luna-25 shows the Zeeman crater located on the far side of the moon, August 17, 2023.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Russia’s lunar spacecraft entered the moon’s orbit on Wednesday, a major step towards the country’s ambition of being the first to land on the moon’s south pole in the search for frozen water.

The Luna-25 entered the moon’s orbit at 11:57 a.m. (0857 GMT), Russia’s space corporate Roskosmos said.

Luna-25 will circle the moon, the earth’s only natural satellite, for around 5 days, then change course for a soft landing on the lunar south pole planned for Aug. 21.

India’s Chandrayaan-3 entered the moon’s orbit earlier this month ahead of a planned touchdown on the south pole of the moon later this month.

Also Read | Russia launches Luna-25 in a bid to return to the moon 

The Luna-25, which is roughly the size of a small car, will aim to operate for a year on the south pole, where scientists at NASA and other space agencies in recent years have detected traces of frozen water in the craters.

The presence of water on the moon has implications for major space powers, potentially allowing longer human sojourns on the planet that would enable the mining of lunar resources.

No Russian spacecraft has entered lunar orbit since Luna-24, the Soviet Union’s 1976 moon mission, according to Anatoly Zak, the creator and publisher of www.RussianSpaceWeb.com which tracks Russian space programmes.

“Entering lunar orbit is absolutely critical for the success of this project,” Zak told Reuters. “This is a first for the post-Soviet period.”

“Some are calling this the second lunar race so it is very important for Russia to resume this programme. Luna-25 is not just one mission – it is part of a much broader Russian strategy that stretches 10 years into the future.”