Russia Reports "Anomalous Situation" in Luna-25 Spacecraft

Russian space agency Roscosmos reported on Saturday the occurrence of an "anomalous situation" in the Russian spacecraft Luna-25 during its transition to pre-landing orbit. Roscosmos stated that "specialists are analyzing the situation without going into details," mentioning in a brief statement that "during the operation, an anomalous situation aboard the automated station occurred, preventing the execution of the maneuver according to the set standards." Earlier on Saturday, Roscosmos indicated that the spacecraft sent on a mission to the Moon's south pole had provided its first results, which are now under analysis. The agency also published images of the Ziman crater on the Moon's surface captured by the Luna-25 spacecraft, which is scheduled to land at the Moon's south pole on Monday after orbiting it for five days. The agency noted that the Ziman crater is the third deepest crater in the southern hemisphere of the Moon, with a diameter of 190 kilometers and a depth of eight kilometers. Roscosmos stated that the data received so far provides information about the chemical elements present in lunar soil and will facilitate the operation of instruments designed to study the Moon's shallow surface. They added that their equipment recorded "the occurrence of impacts from fine meteoritic stones." Luna-25 entered lunar orbit on Wednesday, becoming the first Russian spacecraft to do so since 1976. It is approximately the size of a small car and aims to operate for a year at the Moon's south pole, where scientists from NASA and other space agencies have discovered evidence of frozen water in craters over the past few years. The presence of water has implications for major space powers, as it could potentially extend human presence on the Moon and allow for resource extraction from its surface.