812
Russia's Luna-25 spacecraft crashes into Moon
(www.bbc.co.uk)
Share & discuss informative content on: Astrophysics, Cosmology, Space Exploration, Planetary Science and Astrobiology.
The Busy Center of the Lagoon Nebula
๐ญ Science
๐ Engineering
๐ Art and Photography
Other Cool Links
Mainly, because the poles are always just barely within line of sight to Earth (and thus line of communications) if at all. So the probe has to either operate autonomously or you have to maintain coms via a relay satellite. Either isn't exactly easy with hardware that must also be radiation-hardened and lightweight. Initiating the deorbit burn should (I am guessing this) be done from the backside or you'll run into even more problems when you overshoot the landing site.
Thanks for sharing. That all makes sense.