Russia's Luna 25 spacecraft witnesses 'abnormal situation'

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An 'abnormal situation' has been reported on Russia's moon-bound spacecraft Luna 25 according to the Roscosmos, the country's space agency.

On August 19, the agency said that the spacecraft had run into unspecified trouble while trying to enter a pre-landing orbit and that its specialists were analysing the situation. However, Roscosmos did not specify whether the incident will prevent Luna-25 from making a landing.

“During the operation, an abnormal situation occurred onboard the automatic station, which did not allow the manoeuvre to be performed with the specified parameters,” Roscosmos said in a short statement.

The spacecraft is scheduled to land on the South Pole of the moon on August 21, racing to land on Earth’s satellite before the Chandrayaan 3. The lunar South Pole of the Moon is of interest to scientists as it is believed it might hold frozen water in rocks which could be transformed by future explorers into air and rocket fuel.

Luna 25's launch from Russia’s Vostochny spaceport on 10 August was Russia’s first since 1976 from the time it was part of the Soviet Union.

The Russian lunar lander was expected to reach the moon over 21-23 August, about the same time as the Chandrayaan 3, which is likely to land on August 23.

Reuters reported that unconfirmed Telegram channels in Russian language indicated that contact with the spacecraft had been severed. Additionally, Russia's Moskovsky Komsomolets newspaper quoted an unnamed specialist speculating about the potential loss of the spacecraft.

Only three governments have managed successful moon landings: the Soviet Union, the US and China. India and Russia are aiming to be the first to land at the moon’s South Pole.

This is Russia’s first moon mission in 47 years after the Luna-24 in 1976, when Leonid Brezhnev ruled the Kremlin.