The Russian space agency Roscosmos’ chief promised to “stay in the lunar race” a day after the agency’s Moon mission ‘Luna 25’ crashed. Yuri Borisov told a Russian TV channel, “In no case should the lunar programme
be interrupted, that would be the worst decision,” according to news agency AFP.
Borisov went on to blame the mission’s failure on the country’s decades-long hiatus from lunar exploration.
“The failure of Luna 25 is primarily due to the interruption of the lunar program for nearly 50 years.” “The invaluable experience that our forefathers accumulated in the 1960s and 1970s was practically lost during the program’s interruption,” he remarked.
On August 11, Roscosmos launched its Luna 25 mission to the lunar south pole, resurrecting Soviet Union-era lunar exploration programs. The project, which planned to research the composition of the lunar polar regolith (surface material) and the plasma and dust components of the lunar polar exosphere, was set to try a soft landing on the Moon on August 21, ahead of India’s
However, on August 21, a preliminary review of the lunar mission revealed that a mismatch between the actual and calculated parameters of the propulsion maneuver caused the spacecraft to transition into an unexpected orbit, resulting in a collision with the lunar surface and eventual loss.
Ratnavali