Why Russia and India both crashed near the moon's south pole before India nailed the first soft landing there

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surface of moon grey rocky cratered with luna 25 spacecraft piece visible in upper left corner
The lunar south pole region on the far side of the moon, captured by Russia's Luna-25 spacecraft before its failed attempt to land.

Centre for Operation of Space Ground-Based Infrastructure-Roscosmos State Space Corporation via AP

India wants to fly its own astronauts to the moon, after becoming the first nation to land near the lunar south pole

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A 3D reconstitution of the India moon lander is seen descending on the moon.
A still from a livestream shows a 3D reconstitution of India's historic moon landing.

ISRO

NASA discovered a new crater on the moon as wide as a 3-story building, and it's probably Russia's Luna-25 gravesite

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surface of moon grey rocky cratered with luna 25 spacecraft piece visible in upper left corner
The lunar south pole region on the far side of the moon, captured by Russia's Luna-25 spacecraft before its failed attempt to land.

Centre for Operation of Space Ground-Based Infrastructure-Roscosmos State Space Corporation via AP

India becomes the first country to land on one of the moon's lunar poles

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India's Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft landed days after Russia's Luna-25 mission ended in a crash landing. The country is the first to land on one of the moon's lunar poles.

Watch the historic moment India successfully lands on the south pole of the moon, beating the US, China, and Russia

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white rocket with two boosters on its sides launches through clouds with flames shooting out of boosters
Indian spacecraft Chandrayaan-3, the word for "moon craft" in Sanskrit, travels after it was launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, India.

Aijaz Rahi/AP Photo

Russia's Luna-25 moon-lander spun out of control and crashed, fumbling an attempt to become the first country to land on the lunar south pole. India is up next.

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Photo of the moon lander Luna-25 in a lab on Earth.
Russia's Luna-25 lander was set to beat India to be the first to land on the lunar south pole. But something went wrong during its descent.

Centre for Operation of Space Ground-Based Infrastructure-Roscosmos State Space Corporation / AP

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