Russia's Luna-25 crashes into moon, Chandrayaan-3 on track

New Delhi, August 20

Russia’s first lunar mission in nearly five decades, Luna-25, crashed into the moon a day after it had spun into uncontrolled orbit, the Russian space agency, Roscosmos, said on Sunday, leaving Chandrayaan-3 mission’s lander module the only spacecraft in the race to touch down on the lunar surface.

According to Roscosmos, on August 19 an impulse was provided to propel Luna-25 into an elliptical pre-landing orbit. At 11.57 GMT (5.27 pm IST), communication with Luna-25 was lost, in a blow to Moscow’s first lunar mission in 47 years. Its predecessor, Luna-24, was launched by the Soviet Union in 1976.

The Russian spacecraft was aiming to be the first ever to make a soft landing on the lunar south pole, which has difficult terrain, on August 21. Chandrayaan-3 mission was launched on July 14 to be the first to reach the south pole. Appearing confident, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) today announced that the second and the final deboosting operation of the spacecraft has been carried out successfully, further reducing the lander’s orbit around the moon to 25 km x 134 km.

It said on August 23, the lander module, comprising the lander ‘Vikram’ and rover ‘Pragyan’, will begin its powered descent at 5.45 pm and is expected to land on the moon at 6.04 pm.

The lander would undergo internal checks and await the sunrise at the designated landing site at the south pole. The landing would commence when the spacecraft is at a height of 25 to 30 km above the moon.

The space agency said the historic moment would be telecast live on Doordarshan, its website and various social media platforms, such as Facebook and YouTube. All educational institutions have been invited to actively publicise Chandrayaan-3’s soft landing. — TNS

Soft landing on Aug 23

ISRO on Sunday said on August 23, Chandrayaan-3 mission’s lander module will start its powered descent at 5.45 pm and touch down on the lunar surface at 6.04 pm