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Russia Races to Save Mars Moon Probe from Space Junk Fate
space.com ^ | 10 Nov 2011 | Denise Chow

Posted on 11/10/2011 9:02:35 PM PST by smokingfrog

Russian engineers are scrambling to salvage a robotic Mars moon probe that is stuck in orbit around Earth, but are facing an uphill battle to get the spacecraft back on a path to the Red Planet before it becomes just another piece of space junk.

The Russian Phobos-Grunt spacecraft launched Tuesday (Nov. 8) and separated from its Zenit rocket as planned. But the probe's own thrusters failed to fire in a maneuver that would have sent Phobos-Grunt on a trajectory toward Mars, Russian space officials said.

Now the spacecraft, which is also carrying China's first Mars orbiter, is trapped in orbit as engineers race to solve the problem and save the mission. There have been some indications that Russian flight controllers are not able to communicate with Phobos-Grunt, which could mean that the problem is beyond repair, according to ABC News.

"I think we have lost the Phobos-Grunt," Vladimir Uvarov, a former space official at the Russian Defense Ministry, told the Russian daily Rossiyskaya Gazeta today (Nov. 10), according to ABC News. "It looks like a serious flaw. The past experience shows that efforts to make the engines work will likely fail."

There have been conflicting news reports as to how long the Russians have before the spacecraft's batteries run out, ranging from two days to two weeks. Yesterday, Russian Space Agency (Roscosmos) officials said they have two weeks to figure out how to ignite Phobos-Grunt's thrusters before the spacecraft is lost.

The $163 million Phobos-Grunt mission aimed to grab bits of the Mars moon Phobos' surface and send it back to Earth by 2014. The ambitious flight marks Russia's first attempt at an interplanetary mission since 1996.

(Excerpt) Read more at space.com ...


TOPICS: News/Current Events; Russia
KEYWORDS: mars; space

1 posted on 11/10/2011 9:02:40 PM PST by smokingfrog
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To: smokingfrog
Someone forgot to light the fuse before lift off. Damn Chinese fireworks.
2 posted on 11/10/2011 9:09:20 PM PST by org.whodat (Just another heartless American, hated by "AMNESTY" Perry and his fellow demorats.)
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To: smokingfrog

Gee, a Shuttle assistance/repair mission would sure be useful about now...

oh, wait...


3 posted on 11/10/2011 9:12:50 PM PST by Talisker (History will show the Illuminati won the ultimate Darwin Award.)
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To: smokingfrog

Gee, we’d love to help you guys, but our primary mission is to reach out to Muslims now. You got any of them on board?


4 posted on 11/10/2011 9:24:27 PM PST by Dogbert41 (Israel is real:))
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To: smokingfrog

Has anyone else noticed how much trouble everyone has getting to Mars? I think the Martians have saboteurs here to keep their planet safe from Earth junk.


5 posted on 11/11/2011 6:28:49 AM PST by zeugma (Those of us who work for a living are outnumbered by those who vote for a living.)
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To: zeugma

Mars is jinxed or something.

I think we should forget about sending people there.


6 posted on 11/11/2011 6:45:54 AM PST by smokingfrog ( sleep with one eye open ( <o> ---)
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To: smokingfrog
In case you haven't seen it.
7 posted on 11/11/2011 10:40:55 PM PST by dr_lew
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To: smokingfrog
But the probe's own thrusters failed to fire...

The thrusters are part of the next five year plan.

8 posted on 11/11/2011 11:08:45 PM PST by Rocky (REPEAL IT!)
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