We have been watching two lunar missions as they progress towards the lunar surface. The first mission involves India’s Chandrayaan 3 lunar lander and rover, while the second pertains to Russia’s Luna 25 lander. Presently, one mission is experiencing a smoother journey compared to the other.
Luna 25 faces an “emergency,” lost
According to a recent report from the Russian media outlet TASS, Roscosmos, the Russian space agency, has disclosed that an “emergency” situation has arisen with the Luna 25 spacecraft. This mission marks Russia’s first endeavor to the Moon since Luna 24 in 1976, under the new Luna-Glob program aimed at conducting multiple missions to explore the lunar South Pole.
At 7:10 A.M. ET, commands were issued for Luna 25 to enter its pre-landing orbit. Unfortunately, at this juncture, an emergency occurred, preventing Luna 25 from achieving the intended orbit. The original schedule had slated Luna 25’s lunar surface landing for Monday.
Roscosmos’ statement concludes by stating that the “command and control team is currently analyzing the situation.” In the meantime, speculations have surfaced on social media platforms suggesting that contact with Luna 25 has been lost and that the spacecraft might be lost as well. Russian space reporter Anatoly Zak has indicated that if the situation were not dire, Roscosmos might not have issued a statement.
Sunday morning eastern time Roscosmos confirmed Luna 25 crashed uncontrolled into the Moon.
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Chandrayaan 3 readies for landing attempt
On a different note, India’s ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation) has announced that Chandrayaan 3 has successfully entered its pre-landing orbit around the Moon.
ISRO’s official post on the social media site formally known as Twitter confirms that the lander is now positioned in an orbit of 25 km by 134 km and is functioning normally. Chandrayaan 3 is scheduled to make its lunar landing attempt between 8:00 A.M. and 9:00 A.M. ET.
Chandrayaan 3 is India’s second endeavor to land on the Moon. If this attempt is successful, India will become the fourth nation to achieve such a feat, following in the footsteps of the Soviet Union, the United States, and China.
In a previous lunar mission, Chandrayaan 2, India managed to position an orbiter around the Moon, although its lander encountered issues during the landing phase due to a software glitch. ISRO believes that the problem has been rectified, and the outcome of their efforts will be revealed this upcoming Wednesday.
The troubles of landing on the Moon
Russia’s difficulties in ensuring a smooth lunar mission is not an isolated incident, considering the history of recent lunar missions. In addition to India’s unsuccessful attempt in 2019, a significant number of the last ten lunar missions have encountered failures. It is noteworthy that one of these missions included a co-manifested lander (Hakuto-R) and the Rashid rover. With respect to landers, three out of the five previous missions have ended in failure. The only successful landers were Chang’e 4 and 5 from China.
The near future holds numerous lunar missions from various countries and private enterprises. With NASA’s Artemis crewed missions, accompanying flights from SpaceX, Blue Origin, CLPS, as well as plans from Russia, China, India, Japan, and private companies, the Moon has become a focal point for space exploration.
The proficiency of these countries and companies in operating spacecraft beyond Earth’s orbit will undoubtedly be put to the test. Meanwhile, NASA, with its Deep Space Network and a series of highly successful missions to the Moon, Mars, and beyond, has refined its capabilities in this realm.
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