As Luna-25 moon mission crash, leading Russian scientist hospitalised soon after

Chandigarh, August 22

As Russia’s first moon mission in nearly half a century, the Luna-25, crashes on the surface during pre-landing manoeuvres, one of the leading physicists and astronomers who worked on the mission was rushed to a hospital in Moscow.

According to the Independent, Mikhail Marov, 90, was taken to the hospital on Saturday following a sharp deterioration in his health after the failure of the mission.

The astronomer told news channel RBC and the Moskovsky Komsomolets newspaper that the setback was so devastating that it took a toll on his health.

Russia’s Luna-25 spacecraft spun out of control and crashed into the moon on Saturday after a problem preparing for pre-landing orbit, underscoring the post-Soviet decline of a once mighty space programme.

Roskosmos chief Yury Borisov, looking downbeat during an interview with the Russia-24 state TV station, said it was in Russia’s vital national interests to remain committed to lunar exploration.

“This is not just about the prestige of the country and the achievement of some geopolitical goals. This is about ensuring defensive capabilities and achieving technological sovereignty,” he said in his first public comments after the aborted mission.

“Today it is also of a practical value because, of course, the race for the development of the natural resources of the moon has begun. And in the future, the moon will become a platform for deep space exploration, an ideal platform.” Russia has said it will launch further lunar missions and then explore the possibility of a joint Russian-China crewed mission and even a lunar base. NASA has spoken about a “lunar gold rush” and explored the potential of moon mining.

With inputs from Reuters