Russian spacecraft to Phobos moon of Mars failed to take its course
The unmanned Russian spacecraft on a mission to Phobos moon of Mars has failed to take its course to the red planet. The €120m spacecraft was starting what is meant to be a three-year trip to Phobos and back. The mission to bring back a sample of soil from the Martian moon Phobos was supposed to assert Russia's place at the front line of space exploration.
"They say there is hope to reset it, apparently it's a problem with the programming but there is very little time," the lead mission scientist Alexander Zakharov of the Space Research Institute told Reuters.
This recalls the previous failures of several earlier trips to Mars vicinity.
Other two Phobos missions sent up by the Russians in 1988 failed, one going silent within metres of the surface. In July 1988, they launched the Phobos 1 and 2 missions in a bold effort to investigate Mars and its small moon, Phobos. This was one of the most innovative planetary missions involving close scientific investigation.
The plan is for Phobos-Grunt to reach Mars next year, touch down on the larger of Mars' two tiny moons in 2013, collect a sample from the surface and fly back to Earth in 2014. Dust from Phobos, as scientists say, could shed light on the genesis of the solar system.
Sources:
TomsIreland
astro.if.ufrgs.br
onenewspage
RTÉ News
SpaceToday
The unmanned Russian spacecraft on a mission to Phobos moon of Mars has failed to take its course to the red planet. The €120m spacecraft was starting what is meant to be a three-year trip to Phobos and back. The mission to bring back a sample of soil from the Martian moon Phobos was supposed to assert Russia's place at the front line of space exploration.
"They say there is hope to reset it, apparently it's a problem with the programming but there is very little time," the lead mission scientist Alexander Zakharov of the Space Research Institute told Reuters.
This recalls the previous failures of several earlier trips to Mars vicinity.
In 1971, the Soviets launched twin Mars 2 and 3 spacecraft to the Red Planet with an orbiter and lander on each spacecraft. The Mars 3 probe successfully landed on the surface, making it the first man-made object to achieve this goal. However, it stopped transmitting 20 seconds after the television scan began. The Mars 2 probe failed after its breaking rockets malfunctioned. The orbiters successfully entered orbit around Mars and made observations of the planet and its environment. The Mars 2 orbiter returned data until 1972. The Mars 3 orbiter ceased functioning in August 1972, after making measurements of surface temperature and atmospheric composition.
The USSR launched four spacecrafts in 1973. Mars 4 and 5 were designed as orbiters, and Mars 6 and 7 were designed to drop landers onto the planet. Mars 5 entered orbit around the Red Planet on February 12, 1974, returning pictures and data for no more than 10 days. The Mars 6 probe entered the atmosphere and returned about 150 seconds of data during the descent. The instrumentation helped to refine estimates of air density and composition. However, the lander failed just prior to touchdown. The other two spacecraft failed. Mars 4 experienced an engine failure that caused it to miss the planet and enter solar orbit. It flew past the planet at a distance of 2,200 kilometers (1,370 miles) and returned some images and data. Mars 7 missed the planet entirely and went into solar orbit.
After the Mars series was completed, the Soviets didn't launch any spacecraft to the planet for 15 years. During this period, they concentrated their attention on a series of increasingly sophisticated, and largely successful, missions to Venus.
On the other hand, in 1976 the American Viking 1 and Viking 2 carried the American flag across millions of miles of interplanetary space to photograph Mars, Phobos and Deimos, and land on the Red Planet in 1976. The Vikings have been the most scientifically-profitable Martian operations to date.
The USSR launched four spacecrafts in 1973. Mars 4 and 5 were designed as orbiters, and Mars 6 and 7 were designed to drop landers onto the planet. Mars 5 entered orbit around the Red Planet on February 12, 1974, returning pictures and data for no more than 10 days. The Mars 6 probe entered the atmosphere and returned about 150 seconds of data during the descent. The instrumentation helped to refine estimates of air density and composition. However, the lander failed just prior to touchdown. The other two spacecraft failed. Mars 4 experienced an engine failure that caused it to miss the planet and enter solar orbit. It flew past the planet at a distance of 2,200 kilometers (1,370 miles) and returned some images and data. Mars 7 missed the planet entirely and went into solar orbit.
After the Mars series was completed, the Soviets didn't launch any spacecraft to the planet for 15 years. During this period, they concentrated their attention on a series of increasingly sophisticated, and largely successful, missions to Venus.
On the other hand, in 1976 the American Viking 1 and Viking 2 carried the American flag across millions of miles of interplanetary space to photograph Mars, Phobos and Deimos, and land on the Red Planet in 1976. The Vikings have been the most scientifically-profitable Martian operations to date.
Other two Phobos missions sent up by the Russians in 1988 failed, one going silent within metres of the surface. In July 1988, they launched the Phobos 1 and 2 missions in a bold effort to investigate Mars and its small moon, Phobos. This was one of the most innovative planetary missions involving close scientific investigation.
The plan is for Phobos-Grunt to reach Mars next year, touch down on the larger of Mars' two tiny moons in 2013, collect a sample from the surface and fly back to Earth in 2014. Dust from Phobos, as scientists say, could shed light on the genesis of the solar system.
Sources:
TomsIreland
astro.if.ufrgs.br
onenewspage
RTÉ News
SpaceToday
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