Current:Home > StocksA Russian spacecraft crashed on the moon last month. NASA says it's discovered where. -SecureWealth Bridge
A Russian spacecraft crashed on the moon last month. NASA says it's discovered where.
View
Date:2025-04-12 05:56:04
NASA has released images showing where it believes Russia's failed Luna-25 spacecraft crashed into the surface of the moon two weeks ago.
NASA said its Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) operations team used estimates of the impact point published by Russia's space agency, Roscosmos, on Aug. 21, two days after the crash. The team then sent instructions to the LRO spacecraft to capture images of the area, which it did last week.
When the LRO team compared the new images to ones that were taken before the impact, in June 2022, they found a new crater.
MORE: New York to London in 90 minutes? NASA exploring passenger jet that could do it
"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 agency wrote in a statement.
The new crater is nearly 33 feet wide and is located at about 58 degrees south latitude, on the southwest rim of the moon's Pontécoulant G impact crater, created millions of years ago, according to NASA.
The Luna-25 impact crater is a little more than 200 miles from where the spacecraft had planned to land, which was at near 70 degrees south latitude.
Russia launched the Luna-25 mission on Aug. 10 in an attempt to return to the moon for the first time since 1976 and intended to land in the lunar south polar region, an area that has been largely unexplored and is believed to contain frozen water. However, Russia's space agency lost contact with the spacecraft, and it crashed on Aug. 19 at 7:58 a.m. ET, two days before its scheduled landing.
Four days later, India became the fourth country to successfully land on the moon after its Chandrayaan-3 craft touched down in the south polar region, where it was scheduled to remain for two weeks, conducting experiments and gathering data.
MORE: NASA asks for help studying Uranus and Neptune as it prepares to capture new images
The moon is covered with impact craters from asteroids and comets striking the lunar surface, according to the Lunar Planetary Institute. Scientists measure the size and the number of craters in an area to determine their age, which can be as old as three billion years.
While Earth has had its share of impacts from space rocks, those craters are harder to recognize due to weather and the erosion of the Earth's surface. Because the moon lacks tectonic activity and flowing water, and its atmosphere is negligible, most lunar surface craters are still visible, the LPI said.
veryGood! (23918)
Related
- As Trump Enters Office, a Ripe Oil and Gas Target Appears: An Alabama National Forest
- Watch interviews with the 2024 Tony nominees
- Celebrations honor Willie Mays and Negro League players ahead of MLB game at Rickwood Field
- Perfect Match’s Jess Vestal and Harry Jowsey Reveal What Went Wrong in Romance Off Camera
- Tree trimmer dead after getting caught in wood chipper at Florida town hall
- Parts of Washington state parental rights law criticized as a ‘forced outing’ placed on hold
- MLB at Rickwood Field: 10 things we learned at MLB's event honoring Negro Leagues
- Athletics to move to 1st week of 2028 Olympics, swimming to 2nd week, plus some venues changed
- Dick Vitale announces he is cancer free: 'Santa Claus came early'
- Seattle police officer fired for off-duty racist comments
Ranking
- Paula Abdul settles lawsuit with former 'So You Think You Can Dance' co
- Ten Commandments law is Louisiana governor’s latest effort to move the state farther to the right
- When do new episodes of 'Power Book II: Ghost' Season 4, Part One come out?
- Ten Commandments law is Louisiana governor’s latest effort to move the state farther to the right
- 'As foretold in the prophecy': Elon Musk and internet react as Tesla stock hits $420 all
- DNC plans to hit Trump in Philadelphia on his relationship with Black community
- Rickwood Field game features first all-Black umpire crew in MLB history
- Should cellphones be banned from classrooms? What students, teachers say
Recommendation
In ‘Nickel Boys,’ striving for a new way to see
Hutchinson Island rip current drowns Pennsylvania couple vacationing in Florida
Air Force colonel identified as 1 of 2 men missing after small plane plunges into Alaskan lake
Dollar Tree left lead-tainted applesauce on shelves for weeks after recall, FDA says
Travis Hunter, the 2
North Carolina governor vetoes masks bill largely due to provision about campaign finance
Suspect in murders in Oklahoma and Alabama nabbed in Arkansas
Donald Sutherland, actor who starred in M*A*S*H, Hunger Games and more, dies at 88