Russian space agency boss blames decades of inactivity for Luna-25 moon crash

Published

2 years ago

August 22, 2023

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The head of Russia’s space agency has blamed the Luna-25 spacecraft crashing into the moon on the country’s decades-long pause in lunar exploration.

The unmanned robot lander had been scheduled to become the first spacecraft to touch down on the south pole of the moon on Monday, in an area where scientists believe important reserves of frozen water and precious elements may exist.

Roscosmos director general Yury Borisov said the spacecraft’s engines were turned on over the weekend to put Luna-25 into a “pre-landing orbit” but did not shut down properly – slamming the lander onto the moon.

“Instead of the planned 84 seconds, it worked for 127 seconds. This was the main reason for the emergency,” Mr Borisov told Russia 24, a state news channel.

Roscosmos had contact with the spacecraft until 2.57pm local time on Saturday, when communication was lost and “the device passed into an open lunar orbit and crashed”, he said.

It was Russia’s first lunar mission since 1976, when it was part of the Soviet Union. Only three countries have managed successful moon landings: the Soviet Union, the US and China.

“The negative experience of interrupting the lunar programme for almost 50 years is the main reason for the failures,” Mr Borisov said – adding “it would be the worst decision ever” for Russia to end the programme now.

Sanctions imposed on Russia after it invaded Ukraine nearly 18 months ago have affected its space programme, making it more difficult to access Western technology.

After the crash the Russian space agency said the moon mission was about ensuring long-term “defence capability” as well as “technological sovereignty”.

The “race to develop the moon’s natural resources has begun,” Mr Borisov declared.

“In the future, the moon will become an ideal platform for the exploration of deep space.”

He added: “This is not just about the prestige of the country and the achievement of some geopolitical goals.

“This is about ensuring defensive capabilities and achieving technological sovereignty.”

The robot – which was the size of a small car – blasted off on a Soyuz rocket and entered the moon’s orbit on Wednesday.

It sent back photos of the third-deepest crater on the southern hemisphere of the lunar surface, the Zeeman crater.

The lunar south pole is of particular interest to scientists, who believe the permanently shadowed craters contain frozen water that future explorers could transform into air and rocket fuel.

World

Israel’s PM tries to get on front foot in propaganda war he knows he is losing

Published

5 hours ago

August 11, 2025

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Israel's PM tries to get on front foot in propaganda war he knows he is losing

Israel’s prime minister added more detail to his deeply controversial plans for military escalation in Gaza at a news conference with foreign media yesterday – despite the condemnation of the UN Security Council, which met in an emergency session and urged him to rethink.

Benjamin Netanyahu spoke of a “fairly short timetable” to establish designated “safe zones” for the one million or so set to be displaced from Gaza City.

He also vowed to seize and dismantle Hamas’s final strongholds there – in the central refugee camps, and in al Mawasi, along Gaza’s southwestern coast.

This, per Netanyahu, is the only way to destroy the terror group, which he claimed “subjugates Gazans, steals their food and shoots them when they try to move to safety”.

Al Mawasi is already home to a significant displaced population, most of whom live in tents cramped up against the Mediterranean Sea, in what is already a designated humanitarian zone.

If members of Hamas live among them, rooting them out will be hugely complicated and will involve significant civilian casualties. If the residents of Gaza City can’t evacuate south to al Mawasi, where will they go?

Netanyahu’s plan is to set up more aid distribution sites through the controversial Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) and to flood Gaza with food.

He claimed his policy was not one of forced starvation – describing particular photos of starving babies as “fake news”, and accusing the media of painting a false picture.

“The only ones who are being deliberately starved in Gaza are our hostages,” the prime minister claimed.

I asked Netanyahu how he would go about preventing the kinds of daily killings taking place at aid distribution points in the months since GHF has been operating.

Doctors Without Borders has described these incidents as deliberately orchestrated.

The prime minister said increasing the amount of aid heading into the Strip was the answer.

“And by the way, a lot of the firing was done by Hamas seeking to have a response by our forces,” he added. “And very often they didn’t, they held back. They stayed their own fire even though their own lives were on the line.”

This was Israel’s prime minister trying to get on the front foot in a propaganda war he acknowledged he was losing. He was loath to admit the presence of famine in Gaza.

It took two questions before he acknowledged there was “deprivation”, even if he would not be drawn on whether his 11-week total blockade of the strip earlier this year had played any role.

He recognises that the appalled response of the international community to the human cost of this war, and the accusations of war crimes and genocide which Israel so vehemently rejects, are a terrible look.

This was his attempt to reclaim the narrative.

World

Defiant Netanyahu sets out plan for military escalation in Gaza – and describes photographs of starving babies as ‘fake news’

Published

11 hours ago

August 10, 2025