UNITED STATES: NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) has located the final resting place of Russia’s ill-fated Luna-25 lunar lander. The discovery comes after Luna-25’s unfortunate crash landing on the lunar surface on August 19, shattering hopes of a successful moon mission.
The fateful impact created a fresh lunar crater, which was detected and documented by the keen-eyed LRO last week, as revealed by NASA officials. LRO’s handlers embarked on the search for Luna-25’s grave, using Roscosmos’ estimated impact site as a starting point.
On August 24, the LRO team captured images of the area with the probe’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC). A comparison between the newly acquired photos and previous images of the same region, taken as recently as June 2022, confirmed the presence of a conspicuous, bright crater.
NASA officials announced on August 31 that this new crater is indeed the result of Luna 25’s impact rather than a natural occurrence. The freshly formed lunar crater measures approximately 33 feet (10 meters) in width and is positioned at about 58 degrees south latitude, situated on the steep inner rim of the moon’s Pontécoulant G crater.
Importantly, it is situated approximately 250 miles (400 kilometers) away from Luna-25’s intended landing site, which was planned for 69.5 degrees south latitude.
Luna-25, which took off on August 10, marked Russia’s return to lunar exploration after a 47-year hiatus. The mission aimed to make a soft landing near the moon’s south pole, an area believed to contain valuable water ice resources crucial for future human lunar endeavors.
However, the mission met an unfortunate end, ceding its ambitions to India’s Chandrayaan-3, which successfully touched down on August 23 and continues to explore the lunar polar region with a lander and a small rover.
As Luna-25’s story concludes on lunar soil, the future of Russia’s lunar exploration efforts remains uncertain, while Chandrayaan-3 marks a triumphant milestone for India in the race to unlock the mysteries of Earth’s celestial neighbor.
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