【】

NASA spotted a new crater on the moon. And it's likely not natural.
While racing to become the first nation to land a spacecraft in the moon's coveted south pole region, Russia's Luna-25 spacecraft — the country's first lunar mission in nearly half a century — crashed on Aug. 19. NASA's moon satellite, the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, found the new 10-meter-wide (over 30 foot) crater.
"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 space agency wrote.
SEE ALSO:India shares video proof of its phenomenal moon landing and roverThe impact happened on the rim of the moon's Pontécoulant G crater, which is shown by an arrow in the image below.


Tweet may have been deleted
It's not easy to land on the moon. Any lunar spacecraft must contend with a number of obstacles, namely limited fuel, lack of GPS navigation, and the lack of an atmosphere to slow down. Before Luna-25's descent, a thruster misfired, sending it into an erratic orbit.
Beyond showing Russia's renewed lunar ambitions and deep space prowess, the year-long mission also intended to research the moon's radiation, natural resources, and conditions for future lunar explorers in the murky south pole craters.
Want more scienceand tech news delivered straight to your inbox? Sign up for Mashable's Light Speed newslettertoday.
Related Stories
- Who owns the moon's precious water?
- Stunning photo captures space station crossing the moon in jaw-dropping detail
- The best telescopes for gazing at stars and solar eclipses in 2024
- NASA finds Earth's moon didn't need hundreds of years to form. Try hours.
- NASA spaceship beams back really eerie images of the moon
Yet just five days after the Luna-25 crash, India became the first nation to land in the south pole region. The Chandrayaan-3 mission softly touched down on Aug. 23, finding a safe landing spot in an area teeming with pits and craters. Soon after, the lander released its Pragyan rover, which is now exploring the south pole.
Indeed, the new space race is on. NASA's Artemis program plans to return astronauts to the moon perhaps by late 2025. An astronaut crew will land in the cryptic south pole, a place where the sun barely hangs over the horizon. Among a variety of scientific endeavors, they'll be looking for frozen water — an essential ingredient for future deep space missions.
TopicsNASA
相关文章
Pole vaulter claims his penis is not to blame
Following the cringeworthy moment in which pole vaulter Hiroki Ogita's penis grazed the bar and he f2025-04-02Mariah Carey and James Packer are having a breakup moment
Mariah Carey is having a moment. An emancipation of Mimi, if you will.The untouchable diva and her b2025-04-02Facebook stops insurer from setting rates based on profiles
Facebook has prevented one of the UK's biggest insurance companies from using the social media platf2025-04-02classpass learns the hard way you can’t just ‘figure out the business model'
One startup is learning the hard way that it takes much more than rapid growth and a dedicated user2025-04-02Hiddleswift finally followed each other on Instagram after 3 excruciating days
On Aug. 13, 1961, Germany began construction of the Berlin Wall, perhaps the greatest symbol of the2025-04-02Taylor Swift presents at the CMAs because you can't take the country out of the girl
"Hi Nashville," said Taylor Swift after casually strolling up to the CMA Awards stage as if she'd ne2025-04-02
最新评论