Community hub
Recent from talks
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
Luna 25
Luna 25 (or Luna-25; Russian: Луна-25) was a failed Russian lunar lander mission by Roscosmos in August 2023 that planned to land near the lunar south pole, in the vicinity of the crater Boguslawsky.
Initially called the Luna-Glob lander (Russian: Луна-Глоб), it was renamed Luna 25 to emphasize continuity with the Soviet Union's Luna programme from the 1970s, though it is part of the Luna-Glob lunar exploration programme. It was the first lunar lander that the Russian space agency Roscosmos has sent to the Moon and would have been the first lander to land on the lunar south pole.
The Luna 25 mission lifted off on 10 August 2023, 23:10 UTC, atop a Soyuz-2.1b rocket from the Vostochny Cosmodrome in Russia's far eastern Amur Region, and on 16 August entered lunar orbit. On 19 August at 11:57 UTC, the lander crashed on the Moon's surface after a failed orbital manoeuvre.
The previous lunar lander in the series was a Soviet craft, Luna 24, launched in 1976. Nascent plans for what became Luna 25 began in the late 1990s, with the evaluation of two spacecraft designs having taken place by 1998. Attempts to revive and complete the project continued throughout the 2000s and were punctuated by an aborted attempt at international cooperation via a merger with JAXA's now-cancelled Lunar-A orbiter, and pressure from another attempted cooperative lunar mission with Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) (which continued without Russia's involvement).
Initial mission plans called for a lander and orbiter, with the latter also deploying impact penetrators. In its final form, Luna 25 was a lander only, with a primary mission of testing the landing technology. The mission carried 30 kg (66 lb) of scientific instruments, including a robotic arm for soil samples and possible drilling hardware.
Delays in the 2010s came first from the significant rework and delay brought on by the failure of Phobos-Grunt in 2011. At this point the modern Luna 25 design was developed. Later work on the lander was slowed by resource pressures being placed upon spacecraft developer NPO Lavochkin, such as the weather satellite Elektro-L No.2 and the Spektr-RG observatory, as well the landing platform Russia was contributing to ExoMars 2020.
By 2017, the propulsion system for the spacecraft was in assembly.
The intended landing site was located at 69°32′42″S 43°32′38″E / 69.545°S 43.544°E (north of the crater Boguslawsky), with two backup locations at 68°46′23″S 21°12′36″E / 68.773°S 21.210°E (southwest of the Manzini crater) and 68°38′53″S 11°33′11″E / 68.648°S 11.553°E (south of Pentland A crater).
Hub AI
Luna 25 AI simulator
(@Luna 25_simulator)
Luna 25
Luna 25 (or Luna-25; Russian: Луна-25) was a failed Russian lunar lander mission by Roscosmos in August 2023 that planned to land near the lunar south pole, in the vicinity of the crater Boguslawsky.
Initially called the Luna-Glob lander (Russian: Луна-Глоб), it was renamed Luna 25 to emphasize continuity with the Soviet Union's Luna programme from the 1970s, though it is part of the Luna-Glob lunar exploration programme. It was the first lunar lander that the Russian space agency Roscosmos has sent to the Moon and would have been the first lander to land on the lunar south pole.
The Luna 25 mission lifted off on 10 August 2023, 23:10 UTC, atop a Soyuz-2.1b rocket from the Vostochny Cosmodrome in Russia's far eastern Amur Region, and on 16 August entered lunar orbit. On 19 August at 11:57 UTC, the lander crashed on the Moon's surface after a failed orbital manoeuvre.
The previous lunar lander in the series was a Soviet craft, Luna 24, launched in 1976. Nascent plans for what became Luna 25 began in the late 1990s, with the evaluation of two spacecraft designs having taken place by 1998. Attempts to revive and complete the project continued throughout the 2000s and were punctuated by an aborted attempt at international cooperation via a merger with JAXA's now-cancelled Lunar-A orbiter, and pressure from another attempted cooperative lunar mission with Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) (which continued without Russia's involvement).
Initial mission plans called for a lander and orbiter, with the latter also deploying impact penetrators. In its final form, Luna 25 was a lander only, with a primary mission of testing the landing technology. The mission carried 30 kg (66 lb) of scientific instruments, including a robotic arm for soil samples and possible drilling hardware.
Delays in the 2010s came first from the significant rework and delay brought on by the failure of Phobos-Grunt in 2011. At this point the modern Luna 25 design was developed. Later work on the lander was slowed by resource pressures being placed upon spacecraft developer NPO Lavochkin, such as the weather satellite Elektro-L No.2 and the Spektr-RG observatory, as well the landing platform Russia was contributing to ExoMars 2020.
By 2017, the propulsion system for the spacecraft was in assembly.
The intended landing site was located at 69°32′42″S 43°32′38″E / 69.545°S 43.544°E (north of the crater Boguslawsky), with two backup locations at 68°46′23″S 21°12′36″E / 68.773°S 21.210°E (southwest of the Manzini crater) and 68°38′53″S 11°33′11″E / 68.648°S 11.553°E (south of Pentland A crater).