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Russia’s first moon mission in 47 years failed when its Luna-25 spacecraft spun out of control and crashed into the moon after a problem preparing for pre-landing orbit, underscoring the post-Soviet decline of a once mighty space programme.

Russia’s state space corporation, Roskosmos, said it had lost contact with the craft at 11:57 GMT (5:27pm IST) on Saturday after a problem as the craft was shunted into pre-landing orbit. A soft landing had been planned for Monday.

“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.

It said a special inter-departmental commission had been formed to investigate the reasons behind the loss of the Luna-25 craft, whose mission had raised hopes in Moscow that Russia was returning to the big power moon race.

The failure underscored the decline of Russia’s space power since the glory days of Cold War competition when Moscow was the first to launch a satellite to orbit the Earth – Sputnik 1, in 1957 – and Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first man to travel into space in 1961.

It also comes as Russia’s $2 trillion (roughly Rs. 1,66,18,000 crore) economy faces its biggest external challenge for decades: the pressure of both Western sanctions and fighting the biggest land war in Europe since World War Two.

Though moon missions are fiendishly difficult, and many US and Soviet attempts have failed, Russia had not attempted a moon mission since Luna-24 in 1976, when Communist leader Leonid Brezhnev ruled the Kremlin.

Russian state television put news of the loss of Luna-25 at number 8 in its line up at noon and gave it just 26 seconds of coverage, after a news about fires on Tenerife and a 4 minute item about a professional holiday for Russian pilots and crews.

Failed Moonshot

Russia has been racing against India, whose Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft is scheduled to land on the moon’s south pole this week, and more broadly against China and the United States which both have advanced lunar ambitions.

As news of the Luna-25 failure broke, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) posted on X, formerly Twitter, that Chandrayaan-3 was set to land on August 23.

Russian officials had hoped that the Luna-25 mission would show Russia can compete with the superpowers in space despite its post-Soviet decline and the vast cost of the Ukraine war.

“The flight control system was a vulnerable area, which had to go through many fixes,” said Anatoly Zak, the creator and publisher of www.RussianSpaceWeb.com which tracks Russian space programmes.

Zak said Russia had also gone for the much more ambitious moon landing before undertaking a simpler orbital mission – the usual practice for the Soviet Union, the United States, China and India.

While Luna-25 went beyond the earth’s orbit – unlike the failed 2011 Fobos-Grunt mission to one of the moons of Mars – the crash could impact Russia’s moon programme, which envisages several more missions over coming years including a possible joint effort with China.

Russian scientists have repeatedly complained that the space programme has been weakened by poor managers who are keen for unrealistic vanity space projects, corruption and a decline in the rigour of Russia’s post-Soviet scientific education system.

“It is so sad that it was not possible to land the apparatus,” said Mikhail Marov, a leading Soviet physicist and astronomer.

Marov, 90, was hospitalised in Moscow after news of the failure of Luna-25 was announced, although details of what he was ill with were not available.

Marov told the Moskovsky Komsomolets newspaper that he hoped the reasons behind the crash would be discussed and examined rigorously.

“This was perhaps the last hope for me to see a revival of our lunar program,” he said.

© Thomson Reuters 2023

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MIT Just Proved Einstein Wrong in the Famous Double-Slit Quantum Experiment

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July 31, 2025

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MIT Just Proved Einstein Wrong in the Famous Double-Slit Quantum Experiment

Physicists at MIT conducted a precise version of the renowned double slit quantum experiment, which challenges Einstein’s objections to quantum mechanics. With the help of ultracold atoms and single photons, they have shown the reaction of the long-standing wave-particle duality discussion without traditional spring setups. The researchers ignored the classical apparatus components and allowed nature’s inherent uncertainty to unleash Bohr’s complementarity, as both wave and particle-like behaviour cannot be observed simultaneously. The finding matches the quantum theory and disagrees with Einstein’s local realistic expectations.

MIT’s Quantum Experiment Challenges Einstein’s Classical View

As per Sci Tech Daily, Einstein argued for the deterministic reality, and claimed that the particles must be definite properties irrespective of the observation and that nothing could travel faster than light. With the Copenhagen interpretation, Bohr held the views which posit that only measurement defines the physical reality, along with complementary properties such as wave and particle behaviour, which are exclusive. The result of MIT supports this interpretation by Bohr.

With the removal of spring elements and the intrinsic quantum uncertain reliability of the ultracold atoms, MIT has sidestepped classical interference artefacts. Through this design, the experiment cleanly isolates the quantum effects and makes the result more robust and vague. Their behaviour demonstrates the dual nature when the individual photons pass through this experiment.

Bohr’s Complementarity Confirmed: Nature Obeys Quantum Rules

The findings through this experiment not only give the mechanical predictions and however, but also reinforce the significance of the theorem by Bell. Experiments done by Delft and Aspect have questioned the inequabilities under restricted conditions, strongly discrediting the hidden variable arguments of Einstein.

In a nutshell, MIT’s ultra double-slit experiment provides compelling evidence against the local realism of Einstein but in favour of the indeterminacy of quantum. Through the demonstration of the complementarity of the minimal classical interference, it is clear that the experiment underscores that nature follows the rules of quantum mechanics.

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PSR J0922+0638 Pulsar Keeps Glitching Every 550 Days, Scientists Are Intrigued

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July 31, 2025

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PSR J0922+0638 Pulsar Keeps Glitching Every 550 Days, Scientists Are Intrigued

PSR J0922+0638 is one of the pulsars, which are typically ultradense remains of a massive star that exploded as a supernova. These are quite compact and lie a few miles away; however, they carry more weight than several other suns. Their density infers that the internal matter is packed tightly, and the borders diverge toward the black hole. However, the collapse of these stars is prevented due to the pressure from the quantum forces. Neutrons and protons smash together at the time of extreme densities, and then they create a single gigantic atomic nucleus. However, the core of the neutron stars is still a mystery.

Unraveling the Structure and Rotation of PSR J0922+0638

As per space report, these dense stars act as giant atomic nuclei together with the neutrons and protons pulled together under the gravity. One of the behaviours of pulsars is their rotation, which is stable. For example, PSR J0922+0638 rotates after every 0.43063, and this continues for thousands of years.

Astronomers studied the data from over 22 years to further understand the stability. The data was collected from South Africa’s MeerKAT array and China’s Nanshan Radio Telescope array. Although the changes were minuscule, even less than a billionth, the stars show an energy shift because of the intense physical forces. The scientists found a dozen glitches that we call a little change in the rate of rotation. The glitches followed a cycle in which rotation repeats after every 550 days.

Glitches, Magnetic Cycles, and the Mystery Within Pulsars

Furthermore, due to sudden glitches, a slow and cyclic speeding up and slowing down of the spin of the pulsar was seen during a 500-600-day period. This behaviour made the scientists question the glitches and the time variations of the pulsar, with the unawareness of the exact cause.

The theories put forward by the scientists comprise the magnetic cycle, which is similar to the movement of the superfluid in the star or the sun. Even after these theories, the internal mechanics of a pulsar are speculative. Further, long-term observations are important to know these secrets.

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Starlink’s Unintended Signals Threaten Astronomical Research, Study Finds

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23 hours ago

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July 31, 2025

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Starlink’s Unintended Signals Threaten Astronomical Research, Study Finds

Astronomers have concerns over SpaceX’s Starlink connection, as the world is interlinked by the Starlink internet service, but there are big concerns about it. The satellite is interfering with the universe’s observation, and these fears have been confirmed by Curtin University. As per the analysis of 76 million images from the prototype station, it was found that the Starlink satellite emissions affect up to 30 percent images in some datasets. This kind of interference could change the outcome of the research that depends on that data.

Starlink’s Unintended Emissions Threaten Astronomical Research

As per NASA, it was found that from 1,806 Starlink satellites, there occurred 112,000 radio emissions. Further, it was observed that much of the interference is not deliberate. Some satellites detected emitting data in bands in which no signals are present at all. This includes 703 satellites that were identified at 150.8 MHz. This is meant to be protected for radio astronomy, as said by study lead Dylan Grigg.

Grigg observed that these unintended emissions might have come from onboard electronics. Astronomers can’t easily predict or filter these out as they are not part of the intentional signal. The International Telecommunication Union regulate the satellite emissions for protecting astronomical observations, current rules, and focuses on the intentional transmissions and does not address these unintended emissions, as said by Steven Tingay. Executive director of the Curtin Institute of Radio Astronomy.

Calls Grow for Policy Updates to Safeguard Radio Astronomy

The problem is not just the Starlink Satellite; the team found that it currently has the most expansive constellation, including around 7,000 satellites, which can be deployed during the survey. However, the satellite network can release non-deliberate transmissions too.

Tingay said that it is crucial to note that Starlink is not disturbing the current regulations, so there is nothing wrong with it. He further added that we hope this study adds support for the international efforts and updates the policies which control the impact of this technology on the radio astronomy that is currently going on.

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