Russian mission failed. The Luna-25 probe crashed on the moon

On Saturday, Roskosmos reported that an "unusual situation" occurred in the space probe during preparations for landing on the moon.

Today, the agency reported that an attempt to make contact with the probe did not yield results.

"Preliminary analyzes indicate that the Luna-25 probe went into an unplanned orbit and was destroyed as a result of a collision with the lunar surface", Roscosmos said.

It was noted that the exact causes of the loss of the space vehicle will be clarified by an inter-ministerial commission specially appointed for this purpose.

The Russian space program has significantly weakened

The Soyuz 2.1v rocket with the Luna-25 lunar vehicle launched on Friday at 02:11 Moscow time (01:11 Polish time) from the Vostochny Cosmodrome in the Amur Region, approximately 5,500 km east of Moscow. Roscosmos originally reported that the lander was scheduled to land on the lunar surface on August 21.

It was the first Russian lunar mission since 1976, when the then Soviet Union competed with the United States in the space race. Then the Luna-24 spacecraft delivered lunar soil samples to Earth.

In recent years, the Russian space program has weakened mainly due to lack of funds and corruption scandals, as well as sanctions preventing the import of components necessary for the construction of space research tools.

The group of Moscow's rivals in the space race has also been joined by India and China, which have superpower plans for the Moon, and their space programs are among the most dynamically developing.

India sent the Chandrayaan-3 lander to the moon in July; China has already sent several of them, and even managed to be the first country in the world to embed its lander on the hemisphere of the Moon invisible from Earth.

Researchers say that finding water will be crucial in the context of creating a permanent base on the moon. In 2018, the US agency NASA found the presence of water ice in shadowy places near the lunar south pole, and in 2020 even in places where the sun's rays reach.

The Soyuz 2.1v rocket with the Luna-25 probe was launched last Friday. Luna-25 entered lunar orbit on Wednesday - the first Russian spacecraft since 1976.