Yuri Borisov, director of the Russian space agency Roscosmos, revealed that the lunar probe Luna-25 had trouble shutting down its engines at the right time – photo: Kremlin
The announcement was made by Roscosmos director Yuri Borisov after Russia’s first lunar mission in 47 years failed.
According to Borisov, the Luna-25 spacecraft had trouble shutting down its engines at the right time, causing it to deviate from its intended trajectory.
“Unfortunately, the engine shutdown is not sequenced, but time-based. Instead of the planned 84 seconds, the process took 127 seconds,” Borisov told the Rossiya 24 TV station.
On August 19, Russia’s Luna-25 lost control and crashed into the Moon. Luna-25 had trouble preparing for orbit before landing.
Observers assessed that the failure showed that Russia’s space power had declined significantly in the post-Soviet era.
In an interview with Radio Russia-24, Borisov was optimistic and affirmed that it is in Russia’s vital national interest to remain committed to Moon exploration.
“It is not just a matter of the country’s prestige and achieving some geopolitical goals. It is about ensuring defense capabilities and achieving technological sovereignty,” Borisov said.
The director of Roscosmos added: “Today (the exploration of the Moon) also has practical significance because, of course, the race to develop the Moon’s natural resources has already begun. will become the foundation.” , An ideal platform.”
Russia says it will launch more lunar missions and then explore the possibility of joint Russian-Chinese missions, even building a base on the Moon.
Earlier, the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) also talked about the “Moon Gold Rush” and explored the possibility of mining on the Moon.
The US announced in 2020 the Artemis Agreement, named after NASA’s Artemis lunar program, that seeks to build on existing international space law by establishing a “safe zone” on the Moon. Russia and China are not parties to this agreement.
(tagstotranslate) lunar exploration
