September 01, 2023 04:39 pm | Updated 04:46 pm ISTRussia's failed Luna-25 mission left a 10-metre-wide crater on the moon when it crashed last month after a problem preparing for a soft landing on the south pole, according to images released by NASA. Luna-25, Russia's first moon mission in 47 years, failed on August 19 when it spun out of control and crashed into the moon, underscoring the post-Soviet decline of a once mighty space programme. The U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) spacecraft imaged a new crater on the surface of the moon that it concluded was the likely the impact site of Russia's Luna 25 mission. Explained | What the fate of Luna 25 means for Russia"The new crater is about 10 meters in diameter," NASA said. "Since this new crater is close to the Luna-25 estimated impact point, the LRO team concludes it is likely to be from that mission, rather than a natural impactor."

Source: The Hindu September 01, 2023 11:16 UTC