Russia’s Luna-25 Spacecraft Crashed into Moon, Space Agency Says

Russia’s space agency, Roscosmos, said on Sunday, August 20, that its spacecraft Luna-25 had crashed into the moon.Communications with the spacecraft were lost on August 19, Roscosmos said. Efforts to locate the craft and renew communications on Saturday and Sunday failed, according to the agency.Preliminary analysis showed that the spacecraft “switched to an off-design orbit and ceased to exist as a result of a collision with the lunar surface,” Roscosmos said.This footage shows the launch of the spacecraft from the Vostochny Cosmodrome on August 11.The mission aimed to make Russia the first nation to land on the lunar south pole, where ice deposits have been observed.The launch of the Luna-25 lander was Russia’s first lunar mission since 1976, when the Luna-24 probe was sent to the moon.The vessel was expected to reach the moon’s orbit in five days, RIA said.In April 2022, the European Space Agency canceled plans to cooperate with Russia on the Luna-25 mission due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Credit: Roscosmos via Storyful