Russia says moon shot failed due to control unit malfunction

FILE PHOTO: A Soyuz-2.1b rocket booster with a Fregat upper stage and the lunar landing spacecraft Luna-25 blasts off from a launchpad at the Vostochny Cosmodrome in the far eastern Amur region, Russia, August 11, 2023. Roscosmos/Vostochny Space Centre/Handout via REUTERS/ File Photo

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia on Tuesday blamed a malfunction in an on-board control unit for causing its first lunar mission in 47 years to crash into the moon in August.

The state space corporation, Roscosmos, said the control unit failed to turn off the propulsion system, which blasted for one and a half times longer than necessary as the craft hurtled towards the moon.