Following Russia's failed lunar mission, a prominent scientist has been hospitalised

A prominent Russian physicist, astronomer, and a key advisor on Russia's failed lunar mission, Mikhail Marov, has been admitted to a hospital in Moscow, media reports said. This comes after the recent lunar expedition conducted by Russia ended in failure.

As the Luna-25 spacecraft lost control and crashed into the moon, there was a “sharp deterioration” in Marov's health.Following Russia's 47-year hiatus from lunar expeditions, the Luna-25 spacecraft was launched with the intention of reaching the moon's surface. After the failure of the mission, the nation's ambitions were shattered into pieces.

Post the failed mission, Marov expressed his sadness over the inability to successfully land the spacecraft.

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The spacecraft, which was expected to make a soft landing on the moon, instead veered into an unpredictable orbit and collided with the lunar surface.

"The apparatus moved into an unpredictable orbit and ceased to exist as a result of a collision with the surface of the Moon," Roskosmos said in a statement.

Speaking to Reuters, the Russian scientist, who is currently under observation, said, “How can I not worry? This has been very much a matter of my life. It’s all very hard.”

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Mikhail Marov hoped that a thorough examination of the crash's causes would take place.

As a veteran in the field, the 90-year-old Marov lamented the failure of the mission, which he considered thelast chance for a revival of Russia's lunar programme. "This was perhaps the last hope for me to see a revival of our lunar programme," he said.

“There was a mistake in the algorithms for launching into near-lunar orbit," Daily Mail reported quoting him.He stressed on the importance of identifying errors that contributed to the failure. “It must be found. For the specialists who will be involved in the work of the commission, this will not be a big problem. I think the answer will be found in the foreseeable future," he added.The failure of the mission has deeply affected the Russian scientist.

Investigation

An investigation into the incident was initiated by a special inter-departmental commission formed by Roscosmos to ascertain the reasons behind Luna-25's failure.

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Russia's economic challenges, compounded by Western sanctions and involvement in a major European conflict, have added to the complexities it faces. Despite these challenges, Russia sought to demonstrate its competitiveness in space against other global powers such as China and the United States. The failure of Luna-25 coincideswith other countries' lunar endeavours.

India's Chandrayaan-3 mission is also aiming to land on the moon's south pole.

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