Luna 25

Why in news?

• Russia’s Luna-25 spacecraft has crashed on the Moon’s surface after it went into an uncontrolled orbit.

About Luna 25:

• Luna 25 is launched by Russia to execute a pinpoint landing near the moon’s south pole, a region that has garnered scientific interest due to its potential for revealing critical insights into the moon’s geological composition. 

Objectives: 

• To collect geological samples which will give scientists the opportunity to study this unexplored region of the moon.
• To find water or at least its building blocks which could aid in establishing human colonies in the near future. 

Luna 25 crash:

• Luna 25 was supposed to land in the moon’s south pole region, but the spacecraft went into an uncontrolled orbit.
• As a result, the spacecraft moved unpredictably and ultimately collided with the moon’s surface.
• Luna 25 was Russia’s first mission to the Moon since 1976.
  • The last successful lunar mission was the Luna-24 probe launched by the Soviet space programme in 1976.
  • This mission returned with geographical samples which showed the presence of water on the moon. Since the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Russia has tried to launch two landing missions to Mars–Mars-96 in 1996 and the Phobos Grunt in 2011.Both missions ended with the spacecraft crash-landing into the Pacific Ocean.
• Only three governments have managed successful moon landings: Soviet Union, U.S., China and India.
• The failure of Luna 25 underscore the decline of Russia’s space power status, from a time when it was the first country to launch an artificial satellite and launched the first human, both to earth orbit.

PRACTICE QUESTION:

Consider the following statements:

1. Russia is the first nation to land near the lunar south pole

2. Only three nations have managed successful moon landings

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

(a) 1 only

(b) 2 only

(c) Both 1 and 2

(d) Neither 1 nor 2

Answer