Monday, 21 AUGUST 2023 | PNS | DEHRADUN
While Russia’s Luna-25 spacecraft crashed into the Moon after it went into an uncontrolled orbit, ISRO scientists exuded confidence that Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft is set to touch down on the surface of the Moon at 6.04 PM on August 23. Confirming the end of Luna-25’s bid to reach the Lunar South Pole, the Russian space agency Roscosmos said that the apparatus had moved into an unpredictable orbit and ceased to exist as a result of a collision with the surface of the Moon. ISRO, on the other hand, has achieved yet another successful manoeuvre to take the spacecraft closer to the Moon in its soft-landing attempt on August 23.
Explaining how Luna-25 crashed, Roscosmos sources said that it had lost contact with the spacecraft on August 19 after it ran into trouble while preparing for its pre-landing orbit. The Russian space scientists are now analysing as to why its bid failed, Roscosmos said. Notably, the Luna-25 was launched from the Vostochny Cosmodrome in Russia’s Far East on August 10.
