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After the crash of Luna-25, the health of a scientist deteriorated.
90-year-old Mikhail Merov had to be hospitalized after the mission failed.
The shock of the news of the tragedy was so devastating that his health was affected.
Moscow: Russia’s dream of conquering the moon was dashed when Luna-25, the country’s first moon mission in nearly half a century, crashed before landing on Sunday. Earlier also he had to face crisis while changing the orbit. When Luna-25 crashed immediately, one of the main physicists and astronomers working on the mission had to be hospitalized in Moscow.
According to the Independent, 90-year-old Mikhail Merov was taken to hospital on Saturday due to a serious deterioration in his health following the mission failure. The astronomer told the news channel RBC and the Moskovsky Komsomolets newspaper that the shock of the news of the crash was so devastating that his health was affected.
Read- Why did Luna-25 lunar mission fail? Now Russia gave the answer, said the real reason
‘I am under observation,’ he told reporters at the Central Clinical Hospital near the Kremlin in Moscow. How can I not worry, it’s mostly a matter of life. All this is very difficult. The scientist had worked on previous space missions for the Soviet Union and considered the Luna-25 mission the greatest mission of his life.
Mikhail Marov said, ‘It is sad that it was not possible to land Luna-25 on the lunar surface. This was, perhaps, the last hope for me to see the revival of our lunar program.’ He further said that it is expected that the reasons behind the accident will be discussed and a strict investigation will be conducted. With Luna-25, Russia was expected to carry on the legacy of its Soviet-era Luna program, marking a return to independent lunar exploration in the face of growing isolation from the West. However, Russian space agency Roscosmos confirmed on Sunday that communication with Luna-25 had suddenly broken, adding to the uncertainty.
Roscosmos said in a statement, ‘The device went into an unpredictable orbit and ceased to exist as a result of a collision with the lunar surface.’ Roscosmos also announced its intention to launch a ministerial investigation into the cause of the accident. However, he refrained from revealing any specific technical problem that could have led to the unfortunate outcome.
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Tags: Mission Moon, Russia
First published: August 22, 2023, 09:49 IST