Russia’s first lunar mission in 47 years smashes into the moon in failure

The craft lost contact soon after a problem occurred as it was shunted into pre-landing orbit on Saturday, said Russia’s state space corporation Roscosmos

The failure underscores the post-Soviet decline of a once mighty space programme.

3-MIN READ3-MIN

The Soyuz-2.1b rocket with the moon lander Luna-25 automatic station takes off from a launch pad at the Vostochny Cosmodrome in the Russian Far East on August 11. Photo: Roscosmos State Space Corporation via AP

Published: 5:50pm, 20 Aug 2023Updated: 7:07pm, 20 Aug 2023

Russia’s first moon mission in 47 years failed when its Luna-25 spacecraft spun out of control and crashed into the moon after a problem preparing for pre-landing orbit, underscoring the post-Soviet decline of a once mighty space programme.

Russia’s state space corporation, Roscosmos, said it had lost contact with the craft at 11.57 GMT on Saturday after a problem occurred as the craft was shunted into pre-landing orbit. A soft landing had been planned for Monday.

“The apparatus moved into an unpredictable orbit and ceased to exist as a result of a collision with the surface of the Moon,” Roscosmos said in a statement.

It said a special interdepartmental commission had been formed to investigate the reasons behind the loss of the Luna-25 craft, whose mission had raised hopes in Moscow that Russia was returning to the big power moon race.

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 on Thursday. Photo: Roscosmos/Handout via Reuters

A Soyuz 2.1 rocket carrying the Luna-25 craft had blasted off from the Vostochny cosmodrome, 3,450 miles (5,550km) east of Moscow, at 2.11am Moscow time on August 11.