In a preliminary analysis of the mission problem published by the Russian space agency on Sunday, the Luna 25 spacecraft collided with the lunar surface and was lost due to a discrepancy between the calculated and actual propulsion maneuver parameters.
On August 19, Luna-25 was injected into an elliptical pre-landing orbit per mission parameters. The Luna-25 equipment lost contact at 14:57 Moscow time. Roscosmos State Space Corporation said on Telegram that August 19 and 20 attempts to locate and contact the object failed.
Space Agency: “According to preliminary study, the gadget wandered to an off-design orbit and “ceased to exist as a result of a collision with the lunar surface.”
Roscosmos will form an interdisciplinary commission to analyze the moon’s disappearance and its cause.
The Russian space agency delivered Luna 25 to the moon’s south pole on August 11. This mission revived Soviet lunar exploration. A soft moon landing was planned for August 21 before Chandrayaan 3.
The Luna 25 mission investigated the plasma, dust, and polar regolith of the lunar polar exosphere.
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