The space race of sorts that we are living these last few days just got a big dramatic twist, as the Luna-25 glitches and is feared by some to be lost.
Reuters reported:
“An ‘abnormal situation’ occurred at Russia’s Luna-25 spacecraft on Saturday as it was preparing to transfer to its pre-landing orbit, Russia’s national space agency Roskosmos said.
The Russian spacecraft is scheduled to land on the south pole of the moon on Monday, part of a big power race to explore a part of the moon which scientists think may hold frozen water and precious elements.
Watch Below: Luna-25 takes off.
‘During the operation, an abnormal situation occurred on board the automatic station, which did not allow the manoeuvre to be performed with the specified parameters’, Roskosmos said in a short statement.”
Roskosmos specialists are analyzing the situation, the statement said.
CNN reported:
“It’s not yet clear if the issue will prevent the lunar lander, which was slated to land near the moon’s south pole as soon as Monday, from attempting a touchdown.”
The spacecraft launched from the Vostochny Cosmodrome on August 10.
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“Luna 25’s trajectory allowed it to surpass India’s Chandrayaan-3 lunar lander, which launched in mid-July, on the way to the lunar surface.”
Luna 25 is also a proving ground for future robotic lunar exploration missions by Roscosmos, as many future Luna missions use the same design.
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Ars Technica reported:
“The 1.2-ton lunar lander entered orbit around the Moon three days ago, and since that time Russian engineers have been sending commands for small engine burns to correct the spacecraft’s orbit. Roscosmos sent another of these commands on Saturday to put Luna 25 into a “pre-landing orbit,” ahead of a landing that had been due to occur as soon as Monday.
However, during the maneuver at 14:10 Moscow time (11:10 UTC) on Saturday a problem occurred, which did not allow the operation to be carried out successfully. “The management team is currently analyzing the situation,” concluded the short statement from Roscosmos.
Since that time rumors have been running rampant on Russian social media channels, with the presumption that the spacecraft has probably been lost. Russian space reporter Anatoly Zak said it seems possible that Roscosmos has lost communication with Luna 25, but will continue its efforts to try to contact the spacecraft.
Russia’s efforts to reestablish communication with Luna 25 will be complicated by the country’s lack of a deep space communications network. Satellite tracker Scott Tilley noted that the country’s ability to communicate with Luna 25 will be limited to when the Moon is visible over Russia. There are relatively few of these opportunities in the days ahead.”
The post Out of Orbit: Luna-25 Malfunctions, and Future of the Russian Mission Is Uncertain – Lander Was To Touch Down on the Moon’s South Pole on Monday appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.