Chance of Russia Mars probe rescue 'very small'
A Zenit-2SB rocket, carrying the Phobos-Grunt spacecraft, seen here at a launch pad of the Russian leased Kazakhstan's Baikonur cosmodrome early on November 9, just before it's blast off toward Mars. The mission went awry after launch when the $165 mln probe's engine failed to fire, leaving it orbiting the Earth rather than starting its journey towards the red planet.
The chances of rescuing a Russian probe that is stuck in an Earth orbit after failing to set out on its planned mission for Mars are very small, the Interfax news agency reported on Friday.
Mission control failed overnight even to obtain data from the Phobos-Grunt probe, which was launched earlier this week in what Moscow had hoped would be a triumphant return to inter-planetary exploration, it said.
"Overnight, several attempts were made to obtain telemetric information from the probe. They all ended with zero result," Interfax quoted a source in the Russian space sector as saying.
"The probability of saving the probe is very, very small," added the source, who was not identified.
Nonetheless, attempts to make contact with the probe would continue Friday, also using Earth-based facilities operated by NASA and the European Space Agency, the source added.
Russia's space agency have said scientists have a window of only a few days to reprogramme the probe in a bid to send it on its route to Mars. If this does not happen, it risks falling back to Earth.
If the rescue attempts fail, the slowly descending probe could fall early next month, a space industry source told the RIA Novosti news agency, amid varying predictions including for late this month.
"I think the probe will definitely not fall to Earth earlier than December 3," the source said, adding the probe was losing height only gradually.
The mission went awry after launch Wednesday when the five-billion-ruble ($165 million) probe's engine failed to fire, leaving it orbiting the Earth rather than starting its journey towards the red planet.
The probe had the unprecedented mission to land on the Martian moon Phobos and bring a sample of its rock back to Earth.
(c) 2011 AFP
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Nov 11, 2011
Rank: 1.2 / 5 (9)
I look forward to finding out what happened.
Again, thanks.
With kind regards,
Oliver K. Manuel
http://myprofile....anuelo09
Nov 11, 2011
Rank: 1 / 5 (1)
Nov 11, 2011
Rank: 1.8 / 5 (5)
Nov 11, 2011
Rank: 5 / 5 (3)
I bet China's not too stoked either, since they just lost the YH-1..
Nov 11, 2011
Rank: 2.5 / 5 (4)
These things burn up long before they reach the earth; if anything does make it, its tiny, and the chances of hitting a man made object, let alone a person, are negligable. meteors the size of houses fall everyday on earth, most don't even make it to the ground as dust.
Sad, but not unexpected. Would have been great to bring back a rock, but Russian technology isn't famed as high qualilty... thus failures shall continue. Good thing we retired the space shuttle, lol.
Nov 11, 2011
Rank: 4.5 / 5 (2)
Not much a prayer can do about intentional obstruction. Phobos is really a spaceship, not a moon. It's inhabitants obviously have their ways to avoid curious visitors.
Or maybe the russians are finally about to lose their good rocket karma.
Wait, can we get back to rational arguments?
Nov 11, 2011
Rank: 1.1 / 5 (9)
(rubbing it in Kochevnik's face)
Nov 11, 2011
Rank: 2 / 5 (3)
LOL ,where is your sense of humour. . .the prayer comment was only "tongue-in-cheek". However, if that fuel gets through without burning up. . .we might really need a miracle, after all.
Nov 11, 2011
Rank: 1 / 5 (1)
Nov 11, 2011
Rank: 1 / 5 (1)
On board the probe is 8.3 metric tonnes of highly toxic and hypergolic mixture of hydrazine and nitrogen tetroxide. This mixture will be in frozen time, so it can survive the fall of probe and to reach the Earth surface, where it will explode. This is nearly 20 times the amount that was on board the American spy satellite USA-193, which was shot down before reentry by the U.S. in February 2008.
Nov 11, 2011
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Nov 11, 2011
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Nov 11, 2011
Rank: 1 / 5 (6)
Nov 11, 2011
Rank: 1 / 5 (4)
Nov 11, 2011
Rank: 5 / 5 (2)
Usually true, but this thing carries a capsule that is specifically designed not to burn up (because it was meant to return samples from Phobos to Earth)
It's comments like the following, though, that really make me despair of human intelligence:
You are aware that 'orbit' can be anything from a few hundred kilometers (what the shuttle can reach at best) to tens of thousands of kilometers out? In all possible planes/trajectories? How many gigatonnes of fuel were you going to give you 'capture ship'? And what was it supposed to do when it caught one?
Nov 11, 2011
Rank: 1 / 5 (1)
(bending over to kiss my own arse goodbye) :(
Nov 11, 2011
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Nov 11, 2011
Rank: 1 / 5 (2)
Nov 11, 2011
Rank: 3 / 5 (2)
Has anyone called International Rescue?
Nov 11, 2011
Rank: 1 / 5 (1)
It would probably blow up on the launch pad, and would cost more than the thing that they are trying to save.
Nov 12, 2011
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Nov 12, 2011
Rank: 1 / 5 (2)
Nov 12, 2011
Rank: 1 / 5 (1)
With regard to this mission, it will be interesting to see if they will have enough information to identify the problem as either hardware or software.
Further, the U.S. has developed some quick launch ICBM interceptor missiles for it's star wars program - The Soviets probably have something similar, as do the Chinese.
It seems to me that this would craft would make a good target for practice provided the orbital debris field issue isn't a problem.
Nov 12, 2011
Rank: 1 / 5 (1)
Nov 12, 2011
Rank: not rated yet
I remember hearing it expanded once on one the the episodes but forget .. such a long time ago now. I could of course look it up but I quite like not knowing in a twisted way. As long as 'Parker' says 'Yes M'lady' and occasionally takes extreme and unrealistic measures - I'm happy to suspend belief. Gotta have some fun sometimes. I always preferred Thunderbird 2.
Nov 12, 2011
Rank: 1.5 / 5 (2)
But somehow, I am starting to think that the motivation for the Russian Phobos mission was not simply a science experiment (gone wrong), but more POLITICALLY inclined. The Russian election is coming up fast, and Putin and the United Russian Party (or whatever the name) needed something to grab the peoples' attention. After all, his ratings were not all that high in Russia. The project was started sometime back, but everyone knew that Putin would want the highest office in Russia back in his clutches. And he needed something to reinforce his power and popularity in the minds of the Russian people. . . .rather than that of a "dancing bear".
"hail, the conquering hero" would have been his dream if the project had been successful.
Now, with the hope almost totally gone, he has egg on his face. It did seem to be done in such great haste; that's why I think it's all political.
Nov 12, 2011
Rank: not rated yet
I would suggest they shoot it down when it starts to enter the atmosphere. This will eliminate the orbital debris problem. The catch is, does the missile tracking system is good enough for targeting reentering objects?
Nov 12, 2011
Rank: not rated yet
If you followed the past few reentries then you may have noticed that it's very hard to predict where it will come down. And no: We do not have a global anti-missile system capable of shooting down incoming stuff.
AFAIK there was ever only one such system projected (though never built) in a ring around Moscow - but that would only have been of much use if the thing comes down straight at Moscow.
The world (or any one country) is a big place. A localized missile system doesn't do much good for such a wide area to cover.
Nov 12, 2011
Rank: 1 / 5 (2)
Nov 12, 2011
Rank: 1 / 5 (1)
I am a big Anderson fan, and even have his Fireball XL5 series as well as Stingray, 1999 etc. Never heard FAB expanded though.
If you haven't seen the CGI version of Capt. Scarlet, do so. Most excellent.
As to Mars-Grunt... Unless they are pointing their dishes in the wrong direction, it is Dead Jim.
Nov 13, 2011
Rank: not rated yet
PS: Please rate a 1 for slighting the international-law-abiding Israelis-I love number one ratings!:-)
Nov 13, 2011
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Nov 14, 2011
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