NIRESH ELIATAMBY
COLOMBO – Russia’s unmanned Luna-25 mission ended in disaster when the spacecraft crashed into the moon, clearing the way for India’s Chandrayaan-3, also unmanned, to become the first to explore the moon’s south pole when it attempts to land on Wednesday (23rd), international media reported.
Luna-25, Russia’s first moon mission in 47 years, spun out of control and crashed late Saturday (19th) while attempting to land on the unexplored south pole region, Russia’s space corporation Roscosmos said.
The south pole is permanently in shadow, and scientists have hopes that the area may contain water.
India is hoping to become the fourth nation to land on the moon with Chandrayaan-3 scheduled to touch down on Wednesday evening, behind the United States, Russia, and China, The only manned missions were by the USA, the last being in 1972.
Chandrayaan-3 took off on 14th July and has been in orbit around the moon for several days. Luna-25, which lifted off on August 10, took a more direct route and was expected to land on Monday (21st).
