Russia's attempt to land on the moon for the first time in almost half a century ended in disaster

• Russia's first mission to the moon in 47 years ended in disaster when its spacecraft crashed.
• Its space agency Roscosmos said it lost contact with the Luna-25 before discovering its fate.
• The agency said it would open an investigation into the loss of the spacecraft.

Russia's first attempt to land on the moon in almost half a century ended in disaster when its spacecraft spun out of control and crashed onto the surface.

Russia's space agency Roscosmos said on Sunday that it had lost contact with the Luna-25 before discovering it had collided with the moon. It had been due to land on the lunar south pole on Monday.