The Russian Space Agency launched the Luna 25 spacecraft on August 11. The spacecraft was said to be the competitor of India’s Chandrayaan-3.
But an unexpected failure has been reported in Russia’s Luna-25 lunar mission and spacecraft has collided with the lunar surface. The country’s space agency addressed the news.
This Luna 25 mission was launched by the Russian Space Agency, Roscosmos just 3 weeks after the launch of Chandrayaan-3. The Luna 25 mission revived Soviet Union-era lunar exploration as Russia launched this Lunar mission almost after 47 years.
How did Luna 25 Crash?
On Sunday, the Russian Space Agency said that they lost the connection with Luna 25 just after 47 minutes of engine firing. All the attempts to re-establish contact with Luna 25 failed, and the spacecraft deviated from the planned orbit. After some time, news broke that Luna 25 had crashed.
Mission Luna 25
Luna 25, also known as the Luna-Glob-Lander, was a Russian lunar lander mission launched on August 11, 2023. The principal objective of the mission was to investigate the composition of the polar regolith and the plasma and dust components of the lunar polar exosphere.
The mission duration was Luna 25, which is 3 to 7 Earth days. It was expected that Luna 25 would take approximately 5 days to reach the moon’s surface, but before the landing, the spacecraft crashed.
What is mission Chandrayaan 3?
The Chandrayaan-3 is an ambitious project of the Indian Space Research Organization. The objective of this mission is to put a lander and rover in the highlands near the south pole of the Moon and demonstrate end-to-end landing and roving capabilities.
Chandrayaan-3 is also a follow-up mission of Chandrayaan-2. The mission Chandryaan-3 was launched on July 14, 2023, at around 2:35 PM from Satish Dhawan Space Center in Sriharikota, India.
Russia Luna 25 Landing Date
The launch of Luna-25 was planned for October 2021 but was delayed for almost 2 years. The Luna 25 spacecraft was expected to reach the moon’s surface in around five days. After that, he has to spend five to seven days in lunar orbit before descending to one of three possible landing locations near the pole.
Chandrayaan 3 Landing Date
As per Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), Chandrayaan-3 will make a soft landing on Moon’s surface on August 23, 2023, at 5:47 PM. Also as per the latest updates of Chandrayaan-3, it successfully entered the orbit of the moon on August 5 and Chandrayaan-3 also captured the visuals of the moon during Lunar Orbit Insertion (LOI).
Russia Luna 25 vs Chandrayaan 3
There is quite a lot of difference between Chandrayaan-3 and Luna 25:
| Chandrayaan 3 | Luna 25 |
|---|---|
| Chandrayaan-3 will make a soft landing on Moon’s surface on August 23, 2023. | Luna 25 was scheduled to make a landing on the moon in 5-7 days after launch. |
| Chandrayaan-3 was launched on July 14, 2023. | Luna 25 was launched on August 11, 2023. |
| Chandrayaan-3 consists of an indigenous lander module (LM), a propulsion module (PM), and a rover. | The Luna 25 Lander had a four-legged base that houses landing rockets and propellant tanks. |
| The Chandrayaan-3 rover is equipped with scientific payloads for chemical analysis of the lunar surface. | Solar panels, communication equipment, onboard computers, and scientific instruments were housed in an upper compartment in Luna 25. |
| The mission budget of Chandrayaan-3 was Rs. 625 crore. | The mission budget of Luna 25 was reportedly around $ 200 million (Rs. 1661crore). |
| Chandrayaan-3 will land on Moon after Luna 25. | Luna 25 was scheduled to make a landing on Moon before Chandrayaan-3 but got crashed. |
Russia Luna-25 FAQs
A. Luna 25 crashed due to failed orbital adjustment.
A. Roscosmos will launch the Luna 25 on August 11.
A. Chandrayaan-3 will land on August 23, 2023.
A. Luna 25 had to land near the lunar south pole at the Boguslavsky crater.
A. Chandrayaan-3 was launched on July 14.
A. The full cost of the mission Chandrayaan-3 is Rs. 615 Crore.
A. The mission budget of Luna 25 was reportedly around $ 200 million.
