Russian probe Luna-25: The Moon has a new crater, and NASA thinks it knows why

2023-09-01 14:56:41

Russian probes Luna-25

The Moon has a new crater, and NASA thinks it knows why

“A new small crater” was photographed on the surface of the star. According to the US space agency, this is probably the crash site of the Russian Luna-25 mission.

PostedSeptember 1, 2023, 4:56 PM

The photograph was taken by the LRO probe (Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter).

via REUTERS

Nasa released Thursday evening the image of a new crater on the Moon, most likely formed by the impact of the Russian probe Luna-25which crashed into the lunar surface regarding two weeks ago.

“About 10 meters in diameter”

The photograph was taken by the LRO (Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter) probe, which has been orbiting the Earth’s natural satellite since 2009. Teams from the US space agency compared images taken before and following the moment of impact , and observed “a new small crater”, explains a press release. This one “is regarding ten meters in diameter”, NASA said, and is “regarding 400 km from the planned landing site for Luna-25”.

The American space agency said it had sent commands to the LRO probe, so that it might observe the area communicated by the Russian space agency Roscosmos as the estimated place of the crash.

Incident during a maneuver

Since the crater is “close to the estimated impact point of Luna-25”, NASA teams “conclude that it is likely the result of this mission, and not a natural projectile”.

Nearly fifty years following Moscow’s last successful lunar mission, the nearly 800-kilogram Luna-25 probe crashed into the lunar surface on August 19, following an incident occurred during a maneuver prior to its landing on the moon.

Russian probe Luna-25 crashed on the Moon.

Only a few days later, India became the first nation to land a spacecraft near the south pole of the Moonan unexplored area that is now the object of all attentionbecause there is water in the form of ice.

(AFP)Show comments
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