Uncontrolled Spiral: Russia's Luna-25 Spacecraft Collides Dramatically With Moon's Surface Ending Chandrayaan-3 Competition

Russia's moon mission was expected to make a soft landing on the dark side of the Moon - near the South pole on August 21.

New Delhi: Russia’s spacecraft ‘Luna-25’ is reportedly crashed on the surface on the Moon due to the deviation from the projected path. It is expected to make a soft landing on the dark side of the Moon - near the South pole on August 21.

According to the statement released by the Russian space agency, “On August 19, in accordance with the Luna-25 flight programme, an impulse was provided to form its pre-landing elliptical orbit. At about 14:57 Moscow time, communication with the Luna-25 apparatus was interrupted. The measures taken on August 19 and 20 to search for the device and get in contact with it did not produce any results.”

Russia has refrained from undertaking a lunar mission since Luna-24 in 1976, a period when Leonid Brezhnev held authority in the Kremlin. Russian space authorities had planned for Luna-25 to achieve a gentle landing on the moon's south pole on August 21.

India is also attempting to make a soft landing near the south pole of the Moon. Indian space research organisation ISRO's lander 'Vikram' has entered the closest orbit of the Moon and will start the landing process on August 23 when the sun rises on the Moon.