Russia's Luna-25 spacecraft crashes into Moon

MOSCOW, Aug 20: Russia's Luna-25 spacecraft has crashed into the Moon after spinning out of control, officials say. It was Russia's first Moon mission in almost 50 years.

The unmanned craft was due to make a soft landing on the Moon's south pole but failed after encountering problems as it moved into its pre-landing orbit.

The spacecraft was scheduled to land on Monday to explore a part of the Moon which scientists think could hold frozen water and precious elements.

Roscosmos, Russia's state space corporation, said on Sunday morning that it had lost contact with the Luna-25 shortly after 14:57pm (11:57 GMT) on Saturday.

"The apparatus moved into an unpredictable orbit and ceased to exist as a result of a collision with the surface of the Moon," it said in a statement.

Russia has been racing to the Moon's south pole against India, whose Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft is scheduled to land there next week.

No country has ever landed on the south pole before, although both the US and China have landed softly on the Moon's surface.

Luna-25 was Russia's first Moon mission since 1976 when it was part of the Soviet Union. That mission, Luna-24, landed successfully.

(BBC)