Russian area company boss blames a long time of inactivity for Luna-25 moon crash

The head of Russia’s area company has blamed the Luna-25 spacecraft crashing into the moon on the nation’s decades-long pause in lunar exploration.

The unmanned robotic lander had been scheduled to turn out to be the primary spacecraft to the touch down on the south pole of the moon on Monday, in an space the place scientists imagine essential reserves of frozen water and valuable components could exist.

Roscosmos director common Yury Borisov mentioned the spacecraft’s engines have been turned on over the weekend to place Luna-25 right into a “pre-landing orbit” however didn’t shut down correctly – slamming the lander onto the moon.

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

Roscosmos had contact with the spacecraft till 2.57pm native time on Saturday, when communication was misplaced and “the device passed into an open lunar orbit and crashed”, he mentioned.

It was Russia’s first lunar mission since 1976, when it was a part of the Soviet Union. Only three nations have managed profitable moon landings: the Soviet Union, the US and China.

“The negative experience of interrupting the lunar programme for almost 50 years is the main reason for the failures,” Mr Borisov mentioned – including “it would be the worst decision ever” for Russia to finish the programme now.

Sanctions imposed on Russia after it invaded Ukraine almost 18 months in the past have affected its area programme, making it tougher to entry Western expertise.

After the crash the Russian area company mentioned the moon mission was about making certain long-term “defence capability” in addition to “technological sovereignty”.

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The “race to develop the moon’s natural resources has begun,” Mr Borisov declared.

“In the future, the moon will become an ideal platform for the exploration of deep space.”

He added: “This is not just about the prestige of the country and the achievement of some geopolitical goals.

“This is about making certain defensive capabilities and reaching technological sovereignty.”

The robotic – which was the scale of a small automotive – blasted off on a Soyuz rocket and entered the moon’s orbit on Wednesday.

It despatched again images of the third-deepest crater on the southern hemisphere of the lunar floor, the Zeeman crater.

The lunar south pole is of explicit curiosity to scientists, who imagine the completely shadowed craters comprise frozen water that future explorers may remodel into air and rocket gasoline.