There were developments in space as Russia's moon landing mission has failed, with the lander crashing into the surface of the moon on Aug 20, while India's own moon lander is waiting in orbit, due to make its landing attempt on Aug 23.

The moon is a harsh mistress

Reuters quoted Russian space agency Roscosmos as saying that the spacecraft was being shunted into a pre-landing orbit around the moon, when it moved into an unpredictable orbit.

The craft then "ceased to exist as a result of a collision with the surface of the moon".

So disappointing for all the scientists, engineers and explorers to see Luna 25 crash. All eyes now on India, attempting south Moon landing in 3 days. @isro pic.twitter.com/q4Gk8agBCq

— Chris Hadfield (@Cmdr_Hadfield) August 20, 2023

Russia's mission to the moon, Luna-25, is the first Russian mission to the moon in 47 years.

The mission launched on Aug 10 and was expected to land on the moon on Aug 22.

Its designation as Luna-25 is a homage to the USSR's moon missions, the last of which, Luna-24, was launched in 1976.

The first in that series of missions, Luna-1, is widely regarded as the first to reach the moon.

Delays due to sanctions

Luna-25 has been repeatedly delayed for over five years due to sanctions related to Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014 according to France 24.

However, after the 2022 invasion of Ukraine by Russia, the European Space Agency (ESA) ended all cooperation with Roscosmos.

The ESA and Roscosmos had been collaborating on the Luna-25 mission, along with its two subsequent missions, as well as a Mars mission.

Due to the halt in cooperation, a navigation module could not be installed according to DW News.

The module was due to collect data as Luna-25's probe attempted to land on the moon, but it does not appear that the lack of the module played a part in the crash.

Waiting in the the wings

Meanwhile, India's own moon mission, the Chandrayaan-3 has successfully achieved lunar orbit, and is currently returning  pictures from the moon in preparation for its landing attempt, according to the BBC.

Chandrayaan-3 Mission:

Here are the images of
Lunar far side area
captured by the
Lander Hazard Detection and Avoidance Camera (LHDAC).

This camera that assists in locating a safe landing area -- without boulders or deep trenches -- during the descent is developed at… pic.twitter.com/hw2ML4xCY5

— ISRO (@isro) August 21, 2023

It launched about a month earlier, and is India's second attempt at landing a probe on the moon and is due to land on Aug 23, the day after Russia's scheduled landing.

Its first attempt, Chandrayaan-2 also failed, crashing into the moon in 2019.

Lunar Mare

Both the Russian and Indian moon missions had very similar profiles, both were attempting to land near the moon's south pole, in an attempt to find water, as reported by the BBC.

The craters around the southern pole are bathed in deep shadow, never being exposed to sunlight, and it is speculated that they hold large masses of frozen water.

Water on the moon, if found in sufficient quantities could potentially be the base material for fuel or breathable air for moon bases.

Russia, the United States, and China, are the only three countries that have successfully performed "soft landings" on the moon, meaning controlled landings with equipment intact.

There has been a renewed interest in the moon in the past decade, China, India, Japan, and now Russia attempting new missions.

The United States also has its own plans, albeit in the early stages, to return astronauts to the moon via its Artemis program.

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Top image via ISRO/Twitter & Roscosmos