LRO spots Luna-25 crash site on Moon
Click for interactive map.
Using the rough location data provided by Russian engineers, the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) science team has successfully located a new small impact point on the Moon at that location in that they think is the crash site of Luna-25.
The inset in the map to the right shows that impact, with its location on the Moon indicated. The red dot marks the planned landing site in Boguslawsky crater in the high southern latitudes.
LRO’s most recent “before” image of the area was captured in June 2022; thus, the crater formed sometime after that date. Since this new crater is close to the Luna 25 estimated impact point, the LRO team concludes it is likely to be from that mission, rather than a natural impactor.
The new crater is about 10 meters in diameter and is located at 57.865 degrees south latitude and 61.360 degrees east longitude at an elevation of about minus 360 meters. The impact point was on the steep (greater than 20-degree grade) inner rim of Pontécoulant G crater, about 400 kilometers short of Luna 25’s intended landing point at 69.545 degrees south, 43.544 degrees east.
Luna-25 failed when, during its last orbital adjustment prior to attempting its landing, its engines fired for too long. Instead of adjusting the orbit, the burn de-orbited the spacecraft. As it was not programmed to attempt its landing sequence, it crashed.
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Click for interactive map.
Using the rough location data provided by Russian engineers, the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) science team has successfully located a new small impact point on the Moon at that location in that they think is the crash site of Luna-25.
The inset in the map to the right shows that impact, with its location on the Moon indicated. The red dot marks the planned landing site in Boguslawsky crater in the high southern latitudes.
LRO’s most recent “before” image of the area was captured in June 2022; thus, the crater formed sometime after that date. Since this new crater is close to the Luna 25 estimated impact point, the LRO team concludes it is likely to be from that mission, rather than a natural impactor.
The new crater is about 10 meters in diameter and is located at 57.865 degrees south latitude and 61.360 degrees east longitude at an elevation of about minus 360 meters. The impact point was on the steep (greater than 20-degree grade) inner rim of Pontécoulant G crater, about 400 kilometers short of Luna 25’s intended landing point at 69.545 degrees south, 43.544 degrees east.
Luna-25 failed when, during its last orbital adjustment prior to attempting its landing, its engines fired for too long. Instead of adjusting the orbit, the burn de-orbited the spacecraft. As it was not programmed to attempt its landing sequence, it crashed.
Readers!
Every February I run a fund-raising drive during my birthday month. This year I celebrate my 72nd birthday, and hope and plan to continue writing and posting on Behind the Black for as long as I am able.
I hope my readers will support this effort. As I did in my November fund-raising drive, I am offering autographed copies of my books for large donations. Donate $250 and you can have a choice of the hardback of either Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8 or Conscious Choice: The origins of slavery in America and why it matters today and for our future in outer space. Donate $200 and you can get an autographed paperback copy of either. IMPORTANT! If you donate enough to get a book, please email me separately to tell me which book you want and the address to mail it to.
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. My analysis of space, politics, and culture, taken from the perspective of an historian, is almost always on the money and ahead of the game. For example, in 2020 I correctly predicted that the COVID panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Every one of those 2020 conclusions has turned out right.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:
4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.
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