Chandrayaan-3 Takes Center Stage: Russia’s Luna-25 Crash-Landed on the Lunar Surface

Russia’s Luna-25 crash-landed on the lunar surface — Russia’s first attempt to reach the Moon in decades ended in failure. This unexpected twist has shifted all eyes towards India’s Chandrayaan-3, which is now poised to become the first spacecraft to land near the Moon’s south pole.

Luna-25 was part of Russia’s renewed focus on lunar exploration, marking the country’s return to the Moon after the Soviet Union’s last successful mission, Luna-24, in 1976. The mission aimed to make a soft landing near the Moon’s south pole, a region previously unexplored by other lunar missions.

Disastrous End to Luna-25

Russia’s space agency, Roscosmos, announced the Luna-25 crash-landed on Sunday. The spacecraft was scheduled to make a soft landing near the lunar south pole on Monday, August 21, two days before India’s Chandrayaan-3.

However, complications arose on Saturday when the Luna-25 encountered difficulties while attempting to enter its pre-landing orbit. Roscosmos reported an “emergency situation” that prevented the completion of the orbit-reduction maneuver. Efforts to rectify the problem were unsuccessful, and contact with Luna-25 was lost.

On Sunday, Roscosmos officially announced the crash of Luna-25, stating, “According to the results of the preliminary analysis, due to the deviation of the actual parameters of the impulse from the calculated ones, the automatic station switched to an off-design orbit and ceased to exist as a result of a collision with the lunar surface.”

All Eyes on Chandrayaan-3

With Luna-25 out of the picture, India’s Chandrayaan-3 has taken center stage. On Sunday morning, Chandrayaan-3 successfully moved into its pre-landing orbit, 25 km x 134 km from the lunar surface, in anticipation of its scheduled landing on Wednesday.

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has confirmed that Chandrayaan-3 is functioning normally and is prepared for its descent, expected to commence on August 23, 2023, around 1745 hours IST. The touchdown is anticipated to occur 15 minutes after the descent begins.

 If successful, Chandrayaan-3 will correct a recent record of failed soft landings by various countries, including India, Israel, Japan, and now Russia. Each of these missions failed in their final stages, resulting in crash landings. Japan is also preparing for another attempt with its SLIM spacecraft, scheduled for launch later this month.