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 program be interrupted, that would be the worst decision,” according to the news agency AFP. Borisov went on to blame the mission’s failure on the country’s decades-long hiatus from lunar exploration.
Roscosmos launched Luna 25 to the lunar south pole, restarting Soviet Union-era lunar exploration missions
“Interrupting the lunar program for almost 50 years is the main reason for the failure of Luna 25. The invaluable experience that our predecessors accumulated in the 1960s and 1970s was practically lost during the interruption of the program,” he said. On August 11, Roscosmos launched Luna 25 to the lunar south pole, restarting Soviet Union-era lunar exploration missions. The project, which planned to investigate the composition of the lunar polar regolith (surface material) as well as 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 Chandrayaan 3-moon mission.
On August 21, however, a preliminary study of the lunar mission revealed that a difference between the actual and calculated parameters of the propulsion maneuver caused the spacecraft to transition into an unexpected orbit, culminating in a collision with the lunar surface and eventual loss. “The engine that was supposed to put the spacecraft into pre-landing orbit ran for 127 seconds rather than the 84 seconds planned.” This was the primary cause of the probe’s crash, according to Borisov, as quoted by AFP. He added that a special commission has begun looking into the exact causes of the incident.