Russia has reported an “abnormal situation on its moon-bound Luna-25 spacecraft. Roscosmos, said on Saturday that the spacecraft ran into unspecified trouble while trying to enter a pre-landing orbit and that its specialists were analyzing the situation.
“During the operation, an abnormal situation occurred onboard the automatic station, which did not allow the manoeuvre to be performed with the specified parameters,” Roscosmos said in a Telegram post.
The spacecraft is scheduled to land on the south pole of the moon on Monday.
In the hours since the Telegram post rumors have been running rampant on Russian social media channels. The speculation is that the spacecraft has probably been lost.
The current Russian plans for a Luna 26 orbiter mission in 2027 and two more ambitious robotic landing expeditions. If Luna-25 is lost, then the other missions could be delayed.
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Another lunar lander mission prepares to launch:
“Intuitive Machines is gearing up for the launch of its mission to the Moon, hoping to become the first private space venture to land on the lunar surface. The company recently stated that its lunar lander would be ready to fly in September, with plans to launch the Nova-C lander to the Moon in November.”
See:
https://gizmodo.com/texas-based-intuitive-machine-says-its-almost-ready-to-1850743101
Meanwhile, India is getting closer to it’s own unmanned moon landing:
“Chandrayaan-3, India’s third lunar mission, is all set to make its first soft-landing
attempt on the Moon in three days. On Sunday morning, the second and final
deboosting operation of the mission was carried out successfully, the Indian
Space Research Organisation (ISRO) informed. Post this, the module will be
undergoing internal checks, and the powered descent is expected to start on
August 23.”
See:
https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/chandrayaan3s-moon-landing-in-3-days-isros-vikram-landers-journey-so-far-101692499147406.html