NEW DELHI: Russia on Sunday confirmed that its first moon mission in 47 years had failed as spacecraft Luna-25 crashed into the surface of the Moon after spinning into an uncontrolled orbit.
Around the time the Russian space agency Roscosmos broke the news, the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) announced that Chandrayaan-3 was all set to land on the south pole of the Moon on August 23 at 6.04pm.
“Chandrayaan-3 is set to land on the moon on August 23, 2023, around 18:04 Hrs. IST. Thanks for the wishes and positivity! Let’s continue experiencing the journey together,” Isro announced on X (formerly Twitter).
“The lander module (comprising the lander 'Vikram' and rover 'Pragyan') will now undergo internal checks and await Sunrise at the designated landing site. Powered descent is expected to commence on August 23 at around 5.45pm. Chandrayaan-3 is set to land on the lunar surface around 6.04pm,” Isro said.
The landing will be telecast on Isro website, its YouTube channel, Facebook, and public broadcaster DD National TV from 5.27pm on August 23.
Race to lunar south pole
A successful soft landing on the moon will make India only the fourth country in the world to achieve the feat after the United States, Russia and China.
05:27
Chandrayaan-3: Anticipating significant discoveries after safe landing, says Space Physics Lab Director Dr K Rajeev
India will also become the first country to land on the lunar south pole.
Russia had been racing against India, and more broadly against China and the United States which both have advanced lunar ambitions, to land on the Moon's south pole, which is of special interest to scientists because of the occurrence of water ice that could play a vital role in future human exploration missions
Luna-25 glitch
The announcement of Luna-25 crash came just a day after Roscosmos had reported a problem in shunting the craft into a pre-landing orbit.
The agency had said that an "abnormal situation" occurred as mission control tried to move the craft into a pre-landing orbit at 11:10 GMT on Saturday, ahead of a planned touchdown slated for August 21.
03:08
Russia’s first mission to moon in 47 years fails as Luna-25 crashes into Lunar surface
"During the operation, an abnormal situation occurred on board the automatic station, which did not allow the manoeuvre to be performed with the specified parameters ... Communication with Luna-25 was lost at 11:57 GMT on Saturday," Roskosmos had said in a short statement.
Luna-25 had been expected to stay on the Moon for a year, collecting soil samples and looking for water -- an ingredient enthusiasts hope could be used to make rocket fuel for future launches and support potential colonies living there. Cameras installed on the lander had taken shots of the lunar surface.
The space agency has said an investigation will be launched into the causes of the crash, without giving any indication of what technical problems might have occurred.
Blow to prestige mission
Failure of the prestige mission underscores the decline of Russia as a space power since the glory days of Cold War competition when Moscow was the first to launch a satellite to orbit the Earth - Sputnik 1, in 1957 - and Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first man to travel into space in 1961.
Russia has not attempted a moon mission since Luna-24 in 1976, when Leonid Brezhnev ruled the Kremlin. Luna-25 was supposed to execute a soft landing on the south pole of the moon on August 21.
(With inputs from agencies)
Watch Chandrayaan-3 soft landing: ISRO scientist says it's a 'very difficult job'
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