--- title: "NASA Orbiter Spots Wreckage Where Russia Crashed Into Moon" description: "NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) has spotted the likely remains of Russia's crash-landed Luna-25 lander on the surface below." date: "2023-09-02" modified: "2023-09-02" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/nasa-orbiter-spots-wreckage-russia-crashed-moon" categories: - "Astronomy" - "Moon" - "NASA" - "Space" tags: - "lunar lander" - "lunar reconnaissance orbiter" - "moon" - "Russia" - "the digest" --- # NASA Orbiter Spots Wreckage Where Russia Crashed Into Moon ![NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) has spotted the likely remains of Russia's crash-landed Luna-25 lander on the surface below.]() *\Image: NASA\* ## Spotted! NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) has [spotted the likely remains]() of Russia's crash-landed Luna-25 lander on the surface below. The images show disturbances in the cratered surface that were not present in shots of the same site back in 2020. LRO scientists used estimates from Russian space corporation Roscosmos to pinpoint the impact site. "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," a [NASA statement]() reads. The discovery is yet another reminder of how difficult it is to send a spacecraft to lunar orbit, let alone successfully complete a soft landing on the desolate space rock. ## Lunar Graveyard It's far from the first lunar lander remains that the space agency's LRO has discovered. Back in 2019, it [spotted the impact site]() of Israel's Beresheet spacecraft, which also failed to stick the landing. Later that year, it found the [debris field]() of India's Chandrayaan-2 Vikram lander. Finally, the orbiter [took close-up images]() showing the remains of Japanese company ispace's HAKUTO-R Mission 1 lander back in May of this year. However, India's followup attempt, which followed close on the heels of Russia's botched landing, [turned out to be a huge success](), with the country's tiny rover setting off to [probe the lunar south pole]() for evidence of water ice last week. Will India's success break the streak of international failure? While Russia is already planning to land another lander on the Moon, it's far from the only nation trying to join the exclusive club of countries that have successfully landed on the Moon: Japan's space agency JAXA is [also gearing up]() to launch its own lunar mission, which scheduled to take off sometime this month. **More on lunar landers:** *[Hellish! Indian Rover Detects Sulfur at Moon's South Pole]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()