NASA has released images of the moon that reveal the “likely” impact site of Russia’s unsuccessful Luna 25 mission.
Russia’s lunar lander crashed on the moon’s surface on August 19, ending the country’s first lunar mission in almost fifty years.
“NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) spacecraft captured images of a new crater on the moon’s surface that is believed to be the impact site of Russia’s Luna 25 mission,” stated NASA.
Russia’s space agency, Roscosmos, published an estimate of the impact location on August 21.
Russian Moon Mission Ends in Failure as Lander Disappears
NASA has discovered the crash site of the Russian lunar lander on the moon. (NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/Arizona State University)
“On August 22, the LROC (short for LRO Camera) team and the LRO Mission Operations team successfully commanded the LRO spacecraft to capture images of the site,” reported NASA. “The imaging sequence began on August 24 at 2:15 p.m. EDT and concluded approximately four hours later, at 6:12 p.m. EDT. The LROC team compared the images taken before and after the impact and identified a small new crater.”
NASA also mentioned that the most recent “before” image of the area was taken in June 2022, suggesting that the 30-foot wide crater was created after that date.
“Given the proximity of the new crater to the estimated impact point of Luna 25, the LRO team believes it is likely connected to that mission and not a natural occurrence,” added NASA.
Roscosmos stated that during the crash, the spacecraft encountered an issue while attempting to enter a pre-landing orbit.
NASA Shares Footage of Hurricane Idalia from International Space Station
In this video still released by Roscosmos State Space Corporation, the Soyuz-2.1b rocket carrying the Luna 25 lander takes off from the Vostochny Cosmodrome in the Russian Far East on August 11, 2023. (Roscosmos State Space Corporation via AP)
Roscosmos confirmed that a commission has been established to investigate the cause of the failure. This was Russia’s first trip to lunar orbit since 1976.
The purpose of the probe was to search for frozen water on the moon’s surface, but the mission’s significance to the Russian government lay more in international prestige than in scientific discoveries.
“The study of the moon is not the objective,” stated Russian space analyst Vitaly Egorov prior to the mission. “The goal is to compete politically with two superpowers – China and the USA – as well as with other nations that also have aspirations to be recognized as space superpowers.”
Russia’s launch of the Luna 25 craft to the moon was its first since 1976 when it was still part of the Soviet Union. (Roscosmos State Space Corporation via AP)
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
The Luna-25 mission aimed to make the first-ever landing at the moon’s south pole, where scientists have long theorized that frozen water exists.
Fox News’ Anders Hagstrom and Reuters contributed to this report.
