Russia must not abandon its lunar exploration program despite the failure of the Luna 25 probe, largely due to the suspension of missions for half a century, Roscosmos chief Yuri Borisov said on Monday.
• Also read: The Russian Luna-25 probe has crashed on the moon
• Also read: The moon, at the center of all desires
“It would be the worst decision to interrupt it,” said the Director General of the Russian Space Agency in an interview with the Rossiya 24 TV channel, judging that Moscow, on the contrary, must “master all technologies” again.
According to him, the first probe launched by Russia to the moon since 1976 crashed on Sunday “mainly” because Russia “suspended its lunar exploration program for almost fifty years”.
“The invaluable experience of our predecessors in the 1960s and 1970s has practically been lost and there has been no generational change,” lamented Yuri Borisov.
Almost fifty years after Moscow’s last successful lunar mission, the nearly 800-kilogram Luna-25 probe slammed onto the lunar surface after an incident on Saturday during a run-up maneuver.
Borisov said the crash happened because an engine failed to shut down normally and ran for 127 seconds instead of the planned 84. A commission must quickly clarify the cause of the accident.
This failure comes as Russian President Vladimir Putin has vowed that Moscow will do whatever it takes to maintain its rank, citing as an example the USSR’s sending of the first human into space in 1961, when tensions between East and West completely escalated.
He vowed to continue Russia’s space program despite funding problems, corruption scandals and Russian isolation from the conflict in Ukraine.
Luna-25 was launched on the night of August 10-11 from the Far East of Russia. The moon landing was scheduled for Monday at the lunar south pole, which would have been a first since the machines had previously landed in the equatorial zone.
The contract, originally scheduled for one year, consisted of collecting and analyzing soil samples.
In recent years, a new race for the moon has begun. In addition to the USA, China, India and South Korea are also showing their ambitions.