Putin announces new space mission after being left humiliated by Luna crash
Russian space agency Roscosmos said that scientists and engineers were continue to carry on with the project
Reuters
The Luna-25 failure that happened last month will not be the end of Russia’s moon program, Putin has said.
The spacecraft was Russia’s first lunar mission in 47 years, but it ended in disaster when the vessel span out of control and crashed into the moon.
However, the failure of the Luna-25 does not signal the end of Russia’s efforts to make it to the moon, according to the Russian president.
"It's a pity, of course, that the lunar landing failed. But this does not mean that we will close this program," Putin said at the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok, Russia, on Tuesday.
Luna25 impact site
Reuters
The Russian President said that setbacks in space have not stopped other nations.
"Of course, it is always associated with the unknown. So there is nothing very unusual here, although we would like everything to have succeeded this time. But we will continue this work. We will even double down in some areas," the Russian news agency TASS reported Putin as saying.
In August, the Luna-25 was aiming to land on the moon’s south pole, but the spacecraft moved into an "unpredictable orbit" and then crashed into the moon.
However, experts are sceptical about Russia's space plans. Concerns revolve around declining budgets for Roscosmos and Russia's isolation following the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Putin ordered the spacecraft to be made as part of his plan to make Russia’s the world’s leading scientific power.
Moscow had previously announced plans for multiple Luna vessels in the coming years, starting with Luna-26 in 2027.
The country’s space agency Roscosmos said that engineers and scientists were continuing their work in developing the lunar project.
"The possibility of repeating the mission of landing on the moon's south pole in 2025-2026 can be one of the options," TASS reported Roscosmos as saying.
They even mentioned the possibility of repeating the mission to land on the moon’s south pole in 2025-2026.
In the same month as the Luna-25 crash, India beat Russia to become the first country to land a spacecraft on the south pole of the moon.
Their Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft touched down on the moon's southern surface on August 23.
RUSSIA LATEST:
Michhail Marov called the expedition the culmination of his life workYouTubeRussia had a strong start to the space race when they put a man in space in the 1950s.
However, the US quickly caught them up and bettered their efforts, putting a man on the Moon in 1969, which escalated tensions between the Cold War giants.
The Luna-25 spacecraft was the country’s first attempt to land on the moon since 1976.
The humiliating crash resulted in a Russian scientist who worked on the vessel, being admitted to hospital.
Mikhail Marov, a leading Russian astronomer, suffered a “sharp deterioration” in his health following the failure.
Marov called the mission the culmination of his life’s work.