'Landing part is most difficult,' say netizens as Russia's Luna-25 crash-lands on Moon  

Russian space agency Roscosmos said on Sunday that its Luna-25 spacecraft crash-landed on the Moon’s South Pole. Roscosmos on Saturday said that in accordance with the flight program of the spacecraft, the output of an impulse was provided for the formulation of its pre-landing orbit. Soon after the news of Luna-25’s crash-landing was confirmed, Indians on X, formerly Twitter, were quick to lift up the spirits of Russians. They said that Russians have been the champions of space for decades and were the first ones to launch Moon missions.  

SL Kanthan, a social media user, said that landing is the most challenging part of these space missions. He said Russia has been the leader in space for decades. Kanthan also said that the erstwhile Soviet Union was the first country to soft land on the Moon in 1966, with the Luna-9.  

"Russia’s rover #Luna25 has crashed on the surface of the moon. The landing part is the most difficult in these missions. But this is science. And Russia has been the leader in space for decades. So, next time,” he wrote in a post on X.  

He further said in his post that Russians were the first ones to do a spacewalk in March 1965. In March 1965, Russian astronaut Alexei Leonov became the first person to float freely outside a spacecraft in Earth’s orbit. Leonov ventured from Voskhod 2 in 1965 and his spacewalk lasted only 12 minutes.  

Another user wished the Russian space agency Roscosmos the best of luck. “Space is hard. Russian space agency Roscosmos has officially confirmed that Luna-25 Moon lander has crashed into Moon. It was Russia’s first Moon landing mission in 47 years after Luna-24 was sent back in 1976 to the Moon. Better luck next time,” a user said.  

“The Luna-25 crash was extremely painful to hear. Russia, this is not the end. We expect a bigger banger from you next time. Best wishes for the next mission,” another user said.  

Here are some other reactions on Luna-25’s crash-landing on Moon’s surface  

Luna-25’s crash landing came a day before its planned landing on the lunar South Pole. With this, Russia’s lunar mission came to an end after nearly five decades. Luna-25 was launched on August 10 and entered into lunar orbit on August 16. It was to soft-land on Monday, two days before Chandrayaan’s scheduled landing.  

Also Read: Russia's Luna-25 crash-lands on Moon day before planned touch down on south pole

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