Russia's Luna-25 probe crashes on the Moon
Sunday, 20 August 2023 09:06
The Luna-25 probe, Russia's first Moon mission in almost 50 years, has crashed on the Moon after an incident during pre-landing maneuvers, Russian space agency Roscosmos said on Sunday.
Communication with Luna-25 was lost at 2:57 pm (1157 GMT) on Saturday, Roscosmos said.
According to preliminary findings, the lander "has ceased to exist following a collision with the Moon's surface", Roscosmos said.
"Measures taken on August 19 and 20 to locate the craft and make contact with it were unsuccessful."
The space agency said an investigation would be launched into the causes of the crash, without giving any indication of what technical problems might have occurred.
With Luna-25, Moscow had hoped to build on the legacy of its Soviet-era Luna program, marking a return to independent lunar exploration in the face of growing isolation from the West.
The 800-kilogram Luna-25 probe was to have made a soft landing on the lunar south pole, the first in history.
Russia has not attempted to land on a celestial body since 1989, when the Soviet Union's ill-fated Phobos 2 probe to explore the moons of Mars failed due to an onboard computer malfunction.
Emergency detected in pre-moon landing manoeuvre by Russia's Luna-25 probe
Sunday, 20 August 2023 06:22
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Sunday, 20 August 2023 06:22
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In a recent development in the realm of Earth observation technology, Planet Labs PBC (NYSE: PL) has signed a contract to offer their global daily monitoring solution to a Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Asia. This high-value deal comes with a seven-figure annual contract value, emphasizing the significance of the collaboration.
For those unfamiliar with the industry backdrop, Planet Labs s Cruising to the Contact: Sols 3921-3922
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Sunday, 20 August 2023 06:22
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Sunday, 20 August 2023 06:22
Hurricane Hilary, a category 4 storm in the Pacific Ocean, approached the Baja California peninsula on August 18, 2023.
The Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) on the NOAA-20 satellite acquired this image of Hilary in the predawn hours of August 18 (09:25 Universal Time), when the eye of the storm was about 400 miles (640 kilometers) off the coast of the peninsula. The image Emergency detected in pre-moon landing maneuver by Russia's Luna-25 probe
Sunday, 20 August 2023 05:20
An "emergency" was detected on Saturday during a maneuver by Russia's Luna-25 probe prior to its Moon landing, Russian space agency Roscosmos said.
"Thrust was released to transfer the probe onto the pre-landing orbit," Roscosmos said in a statement.
"During the operation, an emergency situation occurred on board the automatic station, which did not allow the carrying out of the maneuver within the specified conditions."
The lander, Russia's first such mission in almost 50 years, was successfully placed in the Moon's orbit on Wednesday after being launched from the Vostochny cosmodrome in the country's Far East.
Roscosmos did not say if the incident would delay the landing, due to take place on Monday, north of the Boguslawsky crater on the lunar south pole.
In June, Roscosmos chief Yuri Borisov told President Vladimir Putin that such missions were "risky", with an estimated success probability of around 70 percent.
The probe is expected to stay on the Moon for a year, where it is tasked with collecting samples and analyzing soil.
Cameras installed on the lander have already taken distant shots of the Earth and Moon from space.
