The failed mission of the Russian probe Luna-25which crashed into the lunar surface two weeks ago, has left a new crater on this satellite, according to photos published by the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
“NASA’s LRO spacecraft, the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, took images of a new crater on the surface of the Moonwhich is likely to be the impact site of the Russian Luna-25 mission,” NASA said in a statement.
On August 19, Russia confirmed that the Luna-25 probe, whose mission was to be the first spacecraft to land on the South Pole of the Earth’s satellite, had crashed into the lunar surface.
According to the results of the preliminary analysis, the reason for the accident was “the deviation from the actual impulse parameters” previously calculated.
NASA now assures that based on images taken before and after the mission in that area a new “impact crater” probably from the Russian mission.
“Since this new crater is close to the estimated impact point of Luna-25, the LRO team concludes that it probably came from that missionrather than a natural impactor,” he explained.
The new crater is about 10 meters in diameter and is located at 57.865 degrees south latitude and 61.360 degrees east longitude at an elevation of about -360 meters.
The point of impact occurred on the steep inner rim (of more than 20 degrees) of Pontécoulant G crater, about 400 kilometers from Luna-25’s intended landing point at 69.545 degrees south, 43.544 degrees east.
Launched on June 18, 2009, the LRO, NASA claims, “has collected a treasure trove of data with its seven powerful instruments, making an invaluable contribution to our knowledge of the Moon”.
After the failed Russian mission, on August 23 India became the fourth country to set foot on the moon after the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft successfully landed on the south pole of the Moon, after a complex descent maneuver on the surface. of the southernmost face of the satellite, never before explored.
Chandrayaan-3 took 40 days for its journey since it took off on July 14 with India’s largest and heaviest launch rocket.
Despite the failure of Luna-25, Russia, which had not launched ships to the Moon for half a century, has not given up: the general director of Roscosmos, Yuri Borisov, already expressed his confidence that “the Luna 26 missions, 27 and 28 are successful”.
(With information from EFE)
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Source-www.infobae.com