Russia’s moon mission failed after its Luna-25 spacecraft spun out of control and smashed into the moon on Sunday.
Russia’s state space corporation, Roskosmos, said it had lost contact with the spacecraft shortly after a problem occurred as it was shunted into pre-landing orbit on Saturday.
“The apparatus moved into an unpredictable orbit and ceased to exist as a result of a collision with the surface of the Moon,” Roskosmos said in a statement, as quoted in the Reuters’ report.
Now all eyes will be on India, whose Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft is scheduled to make its landing on the Moon’s South Pole on Wednesday (August 23).
According to the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), Chandrayaan-3 is set to land on the moon on August 23, 2023 (Wednesday), around 18:04 IST. The spacecraft is now just three-day away from its final destination, the moon’s South Pole. ISRO is bidding to make a successful soft landing on the moon, which will make India the fourth country in the world to achieve the feat after the United States, Russia and China. “Chandrayaan-3 is set to land on the moon on August 23, 2023, around 18:04 Hrs. IST. Thanks for the wishes and positivity! Let’s continue experiencing the journey together,” ISRO said in a post on ‘X’ (formerly Twitter) on Sunday. Live actions will be available on the ISRO website, its YouTube channel, Facebook, and public broadcaster DD National TV from 17:27 IST on Aug 23, 2023.
