Russia’s recent attempt at sending the Luna-25 robotic spacecraft to the Moon didn’t go as planned. The spacecraft crashed into the Moon instead of landing successfully. This is a big setback for Russia because it was their first Moon mission in almost 50 years, and it affects their space goals.
The Russian space agency, Roscosmos, explained that the spacecraft ended up in the wrong orbit after a maneuver, causing it to collide with the lunar surface and be destroyed. To figure out what went wrong, Roscosmos is putting together a group of experts to investigate.
Luna-25 was supposed to land on the Moon’s south pole, an area with water ice that could be turned into rocket fuel for future space missions, like going to Mars. Interestingly, India is also planning a landing attempt in the same spot, and other countries like the U.S. and China have similar plans.
Even though the U.S. and Russia work together on the International Space Station, their partnership for space missions in the future is uncertain. The U.S. is working on its Artemis program, which aims to involve multiple countries in Moon missions.
On the other hand, Russia is teaming up with China to create a research station on the Moon that involves different nations.
