This handout picture taken by Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera shows a new impact crater on the Moon's surface likely from Russia’s Luna 25 mission (AFP)
Russia's failed Luna-25 mission left a 10-metre wide crater on the moon when it crashed last month after a problem preparing for a soft landing on the south pole, according to images released by NASA.
Luna-25, Russia's first moon mission in 47 years, failed on August 19 when it spun out of control and crashed into the moon, underscoring the post-Soviet decline of a once mighty space programme.
The US National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) spacecraft imaged a new crater on the surface of the moon that it concluded was the likely the impact site of Russia's Luna 25 mission.
"The new crater is about 10 meters in diameter," NASA said. "Since this new crater is close to the Luna-25 estimated impact point, the LRO team concludes it is likely to be from that mission, rather than a natural impactor."
After the crash, Moscow said a special inter-departmental commission had been formed to investigate the reasons behind the loss of the Luna-25 craft.
Though many moon missions fail, the crash underscored the decline of Russia's space power since the glory days of Cold War competition when Moscow was the first to launch a satellite to orbit the Earth - Sputnik 1 in 1957 - and Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first man to travel into space in 1961.
Leaders of the BRICS group of developing nations on Sunday condemned attacks on Gaza and Iran, called for reforms of global institutions and presented the bloc as a haven for multilateral diplomacy amid violent conflicts and trade wars.
Israel has attacked Houthi targets in three Yemeni ports and a power plant, the Israeli military said early on Monday, marking the first Israeli attack on Yemen in almost a month.
The death toll from catastrophic floods in Texas reached at least 78 on Sunday, including 28 children, as the search for girls missing from a summer camp continued and fears of more flooding prompted evacuations of volunteer responders.
An Israeli delegation left for Qatar on Sunday for talks on a possible Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal, an Israeli official said, hours before Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was due to head to Washington to meet US President Donald Trump.
At least 50 people have been confirmed dead following flash floods in central Texas, authorities said as rescuers continued a frantic search for dozens more campers, vacationers and residents who were still missing.
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