Aug. 20 (UPI) -- Russia's Luna-25 lunar lander has been destroyed after crashing into the moon, the nation's space agency said Sunday.
Communications between the Russian agency, Roscosmos, and the lunar lander was interrupted on Saturday. The space agency reported that it searched for Luna-25 into Sunday to no avail.
"According to the results of the preliminary analysis, due to the deviation of the actual parameters of the impulse from the calculated ones, the device switched to an off-design orbit and ceased to exist as a result of a collision with the lunar surface," Roscosmos said on Telegram.
"A specially formed interdepartmental commission will deal with the issues of clarifying the reasons for the loss of the Moon," the agency added.
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Luna-25 was intended to land near the Moon's south pole as Russia's first lunar lander since 1976. While in pre-landing orbit, "an emergency situation occurred on board [Luna-25]," causing it to deviate from its intended path and crash, the officials said.
Luna-25 launched on Aug. 10 after more than 20 years of preparations. Its mission was slated to take a year. Since launch, several of the lander's scientific instruments had become active. It began taking measurements of gamma rays and chemical elements, and had taken images of the moon's surface.
The primary goals of the mission were to analyze the south pole of the moon in search of water and ice. With an abundance of water, cosmic explorers may be able to utilize hydrogen and oxygen for deep space travel.
According to TASS, Luna-25's onboard cameras were to record a time-lapse of its landing and a panorama view in high-definition.
