Enlarge / A photograph of the Luna 25 mission released by Roscosmos on August 16, 2023. (credit: Roscosmos)
In a terse update posted on the social media network Telegram Saturday, the Russian space corporation Roscosmos said that an “emergency situation” had occurred on board its Luna 25 spacecraft.
The 1.2-ton lunar lander entered orbit around the Moon three days ago, and since that time Russian engineers have been sending commands for small engine burns to correct the spacecraft’s orbit. Roscosmos sent another of these commands on Saturday to put Luna 25 into a “pre-landing orbit,” ahead of a landing that had been due to occur as soon as Monday.
However, during the maneuver at 14:10 Moscow time (11:10 UTC) on Saturday a problem occurred, which did not allow the operation to be carried out successfully. “The management team is currently analyzing the situation,” concluded the short statement from Roscosmos.
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