Luna 25

NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter captured a photo of a new crater on the moon's surface that may have formed after the Russian Luna-25 space station crashed, Reuters reported.

India on Wednesday landed a spacecraft near the moon's south pole, an uncharted territory that scientists believe could hold vital reserves of frozen water and precious elements, as the country cements its growing prowess in space and technology.

Russia's first Moon mission in almost 50 years, the Luna-25 probe, has crashed on the Moon's surface after an unspecified incident during pre-landing maneuvers, the Russian space agency Roscosmos said on Aug. 20.

The crash comes almost a year and a half into Russia's Ukraine offensive that has seen Moscow isolated, with punishing sanctions that have affected its space industry.

A rocket carrying a lunar landing craft blasted off Friday on Russia's first moon mission in nearly 50 years, racing to land on Earth's satellite ahead of an Indian spacecraft.

The launch from Russia's Vostochny spaceport in the Far East of the Luna-25 craft to the moon is Russia's first since 1976 when it was part of the Soviet Union.