The Luna-25 interplanetary station, which ceased to exist after a collision with the surface of the Earth satellite, may have crashed due to the malfunction of the Bius-L navigation device. This was reported by RIA News with source reference.
According to him, Bius-L determines the direction and flight speed of the space station. He transfers this information to the Luna-25 station’s computer, which “commands” its engine. However, the device has not been tested in space.
“Between a new product and a proven device, it is always better to choose the second option,” the source said.
He added that the failure of Bius-L was just a version of the Luna-25 accident. The exact reason will be announced by the emergency commission.
“Not a single instrument of Luna-25 has been tested in space”
In conversation with Ivan Moiseev, President of the Institute of Space Policy (ISP) “socialbites.ca” He emphasized that he was not surprised by the source’s words and that the Bius-L defective version was considered the original version:
“The engine ran longer than expected. Or the shutdown circuit has failed somehow, which is a complex but fairly simple circuit. Or this acceleration meter. The accelerometer detects the acceleration in each second, each unit of time, integrates it, and retrieves the time. So the device is more complex.”
According to the expert, not a single device on the station has been tested in space, but this is in the order of things.
“Not a single device on the station was tested in space. Its analogues could fly into space, but those standing on the station could not. This is not necessary, this is not the practice.
In rare cases, if the device is complex, they can see how it behaves at the ISP, for example. However, this is the exception rather than the rule. They usually make devices and launch them on the market. Because it is very difficult to send it into space and return it,” said Moiseev.
According to him, it is not worth waiting for the new station to be put into service, as there are no relevant documents and financing yet.
Completely local device
The Bius-L inertial unit, which measures angular velocities and linear accelerations affecting the spacecraft, was developed entirely from Russian components at the Research and Production Center of Automation and Instrumentation named after Academician NA Pilyugin. This was announced by Alexander Sapozhnikov, the first deputy general designer of the center. news.ru.
“Developed and produced literally in a year and a half (“Bius-L.” – socialbites.ca). This is a very fast deadline for this type of tasks. For comparison: under normal, non-emergency conditions, the creation of such a device takes an average of 3-4 years,” said Sapozhnikov.
He added that initially, cooperation with the foreign company Astrix was envisaged during the creation of the device, but this became impossible due to sanctions restrictions.
“Bius-L” is a unit that measures angular velocities and the letter “L” represents the Moon. He has already performed well during the flight, but the most difficult mission for him is to land the station on the lunar surface. A representative of the center said maximum capacity would be needed there.
According to the expert, the device was planned to be used in flights to other planets throughout the solar system. The service life of Bius-L is 15 years.
What Roscosmos said after the failure
The head of Roscosmos, Yuri Borisov, speaks to a TV channel “Russia 24” He stated that the main reason for the crash of the Russian interplanetary station Luna-25 was the abnormal operation of the engines:
“At 14:10 (August 19 – socialbites.ca), the engines were turned on, which were supposed to fix the device and launch it into pre-landing orbit. “Unfortunately, the engine shutdown did not occur normally according to the cyclogram, but according to the time interruption and worked for 127 seconds instead of the planned 84 seconds.”
According to Borisov, one of the failure factors was the negative experience of interruption of the lunar program for almost 50 years, due to which experts were forced to re-specialize in all technologies.
“We must always draw conclusions from such situations: We must not give up, we must achieve results. I met with the developers of the system, NPO Lavochkin, they are constantly developing lunar missions. A team of young men is sad. “But they are willing to repeat this mission, and we will do everything possible for this.” sure Head of Roscosmos.
Plans for space
Despite the unsuccessful launch of Luna 25, new space flights are planned. The launch of the Luna-26 spacecraft was planned for 2027 but will likely be accelerated.
“I believe that by accelerating the Luna-26 and Luna-27 missions, we will definitely achieve the lost results that, unfortunately, we could not get during the Luna-25 mission due to the accident,” Borisov said.
It has also been reported that in 2030, the Boomerang station will go to the Mars moon Phobos to retrieve soil. TASS.
“Boomerang” – after 2030. The materials say that the first phase of the Expedition-M project is to study Mars and its moons Phobos and Deimos by remote and contact methods.