Crash Site of Russia's Luna-25 Spotted by Moon Orbiter, NASA Says

NASA released imagery on August 31 showing a new crater on the moon that it says is likely to be the crash site of Russia’s failed Luna-25 mission.

The US space agency said the site was imaged by its Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) spacecraft on August 24, five days after Russia’s space agency, Roscosmos, said its lander had crashed as it descended toward the moon’s surface on August 19.

NASA said it found a crater 10 meters (32.8 feet) in diameter using information about the impact site released by Roscosmos. The agency compared its new photo to its most recent “before” image of the area, which was captured in June 2022.

“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,” NASA said.. Credit: NASA Goddard/ASU via Storyful

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