Causes of Luna 25 crash still being studied - Roscosmos

MOSCOW. Dec 28 (Interfax) - A commission studying the causes of the Luna 25 lunar exploration spacecraft's crash is still working, and measures are being elaborated to prevent such incidents from happening in the future, Roscosmos said on Thursday.

"The causes of the spacecraft's abnormal functioning are being scrutinized, and a set of measures is being elaborated to prevent similar situations from recurring," the state corporation said in an end-of-year report.

The first lunar mission in Russia's modern history began on August 11. Luna 25 took off from Vostochny Cosmodrome and a soft landing on the Moon's South Pole was planned for August 21. However, the spacecraft crashed on the Moon and was lost on August 19.

A preliminary conclusion of the interagency commission is the abnormal functioning of the control system, which failed to turn on the accelerometers and thus prevented the engine from stopping on time.

According to Roscosmos head Yury Borisov, the engine ran for 127 seconds instead of the planned 84 seconds, which was the main reason for the accident.

Borisov said earlier that the Luna 26 mission was planned for 2027, to be followed by Luna 27 in 2028 and Luna 28 by 2030.

He also said on October 27 that Russia would explore the Moon together with China once Luna 26 and Luna 27 were launched.