Russia’s first lunar mission in almost 50 years has crashed and burned after the Luna-25 spacecraft spiraled out of control.
Earlier this month, Russia launched its first lunar spacecraft in almost 50 years. The nation hoped that the Luna-25 would be a revival of Russia’s once prestigious space program. However, the Luna-25 mission crashed into the Moon after a problem preparing for pre-landing orbit sent the craft spiraling to the lunar surface.
The mission’s failure is a huge loss for the Russian space program, and according to Reuters, some Soviet space veterans even considered it their last hope that the program would return to the height of its prestige seen during the era of the Soviet Union.
