Printed on September 2, 2023 at 8:45 p.m.
The Russian spacecraft Luna-25 crashed on the moon on August 19 after an incident throughout a maneuver earlier than touchdown.
A small crater is created
In response to the American area company, it was the affect of the Russian Luna-25 probe that crashed on the lunar floor.
In a press launch, NASA says the brand new crater was recognized based mostly on info from the Russian area company concerning the attainable location of the affect. By evaluating images taken in June 2022 with these after the affect, we are able to see the presence of a brand new small crater. The likelihood that it was attributable to the failed lunar touchdown of Luna-25 is considerably greater than the speculation of a pure projectile affect.
The affect of the Russian probe crash to the appropriate of the most important crater. Picture: NASA
A nonetheless unexplained failure
The crater is about 10 meters in diameter and is positioned about 400 km from the deliberate lunar touchdown web site. The photograph was taken by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter probe, which has been orbiting the moon since 2009.
In response to the Russian area company Roscosmos, the causes of the crash of the 800 kilogram probe are nonetheless unclear and are being investigated. The final profitable Russian lunar mission was nearly 50 years in the past.
The Russian lunar probe Luna-25 has crashed. Illustration: NPO Lavochkin