Final resting place of Russia's Luna-25 lunar probe likely spotted. See photos

Nearly two weeks after Russia's Luna-25 lunar probe crashed into the Moon, US space agency NASA has released an image that shows the likely final resting place of the mission.

NASA released a statement on Thursday (August 31) saying its sharp-eyed Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) had likely found the crash site last week. Using the estimated impact site data provided by Russia's space agency Roscosmos, NASA said LRO's handlers went looking for Luna-25's grave.

Using the probe's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC), the team managed to image the suspected crash site on August 24. After comparing the new image with a previous photo of the same region captured by LROC in June 2022, the team was able to make the discovery.

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The before and after photos showed a bright, fresh crater on the moon that had developed in the past 14 months.

"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," NASA said in a statement.

According to the agency, the new crater is about 10 metres in diameter and is located at 57.865 degrees south latitude and 61.360 degrees east longitude at an elevation of about minus 360 meters.

Notably, LRO is managed by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland since being launched in June 2009.

Watch |Luna 25: Russian lunar mission comes to an end: Spacecraft moved to an unpredictable orbit

What happened to Luna-25?

Luna-25, the first Russian Moon mission in nearly 50 years, crashed into the lunar surface after it spun into an uncontrolled orbit. According to Roscosmos, a day prior to the crash, the probe reported an "emergency" while performing a routine manoeuvre.

"During the operation, an emergency situation occurred on board the automatic station, which did not allow the manoeuvre to be performed with the specified parameters," Roscosmos stated.

The lunar probe was expected to remain on the lunar surface for an entire year to perform critical scientific tasks of collecting samples and conducting soil analysis. The lander had as many as eight different science instruments on it.

Luna-25 was launched on August 10 from the Vostochny Cosmodrome, in Russia's Far East region and reached the lunar orbit six days later. The probe was due to touch down near the lunar South Pole on August 20.

(With inputs from agencies)

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