The head of the Russian state corporation Roscosmos, Yuri Borisov, said that the automatic interplanetary station Luna-25 crashed due to malfunctioning accelerometers. According to Borisov, these devices could not function normally and did not transmit the necessary information to turn off the spacecraft engine.

Photo: openverse

Borisov noted that the investigation is currently studying 16 Potential Causes of Accelerometer Failure, and 11 of them have already been excluded. The investigation into the cause of the crash is expected to be completed by the end of September.

The Luna 25 mission began on August 11 with the goal of landing an automatic station near the south pole of the Moon. However, on August 19, communication with the spacecraft was lost, and it subsequently collided with the lunar surface.