Current:Home > StocksA Russian spacecraft crashed on the moon last month. NASA says it's discovered where. -Ascend Wealth Education
A Russian spacecraft crashed on the moon last month. NASA says it's discovered where.
View
Date:2025-04-15 00:08:25
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! (354)
Related
- Macy's says employee who allegedly hid $150 million in expenses had no major 'impact'
- You'll Flip a Table Over These Real Housewives of New Jersey Season 13 Reunion Looks
- Breaking This Met Gala Rule Means Celebs Won’t Get Invited Back
- Go Behind-the-Scenes of Brittany Mahomes’ Met Gala Prep With Her Makeup Artist
- EU countries double down on a halt to Syrian asylum claims but will not yet send people back
- Jamie Foxx Breaks Silence After Suffering Medical Emergency
- Fracking Study Ties Water Contamination to Surface Spills
- Nebraska Landowners Hold Keystone XL at Bay With Lawsuit
- Justice Department, Louisville reach deal after probe prompted by Breonna Taylor killing
- Cleanse, Hydrate, and Exfoliate Your Skin With a $40 Deal on $107 Worth of First Aid Beauty Products
Ranking
- Senate begins final push to expand Social Security benefits for millions of people
- Missing resident from Davenport, Iowa, building collapse found dead, officials confirm
- From a March to a Movement: Climate Events Stretch From Sea to Rising Sea
- Hunger Games' Alexander Ludwig Welcomes Baby With Wife Lauren
- What to know about Tuesday’s US House primaries to replace Matt Gaetz and Mike Waltz
- Poisoned cheesecake used as a weapon in an attempted murder a first for NY investigators
- A Longtime Days of Our Lives Star Is Leaving the Soap
- Today’s Climate: May 5, 2010
Recommendation
2025 'Doomsday Clock': This is how close we are to self
Nebraska Landowners Hold Keystone XL at Bay With Lawsuit
Today’s Climate: May 1-2, 2010
Natural Gas Flaring: Critics and Industry Square Off Over Emissions
$73.5M beach replenishment project starts in January at Jersey Shore
How can we help humans thrive trillions of years from now? This philosopher has a plan
Too Hot to Handle’s Francesca Farago and TikToker Jesse Sullivan Are Engaged
Rising Seas Are Flooding Norfolk Naval Base, and There’s No Plan to Fix It