Russia‘s hopes of becoming the first country to reach the Moon’s south pole were dashed on Sunday when its Luna-25 spacecraft crashed on the lunar surface after it spun into an uncontrolled orbit, reports Surendra Singh. This was Russia’s first Moon mission in 47 years, underscoring the decline of its space prowess.
Russian space agency Roscosmos said it lost contact with the spacecraft at 11.57 GMT on Saturday after it reported a glitch while going into its pre-landing orbit. “During the operation, an abnormal situation occurred on board the automatic station, which did not allow the manoeuvre to be performed,” it said.
On Sunday, the agency said, “The apparatus moved into an unpredictable orbit and ceased to exist as a result of a collision with the surface…” Initial analysis suggests Luna-25 switched to an off-design orbit, Russian media reported.