The Russian Phobos-Grunt satellite was launched a couple of weeks ago by the Russian Space Agency. However, the second stage rocket of Phobos-Grunt failed to ignite, keeping it in Earth's orbit. It is now stuck there, and only communicating with mission controllers on a sporadic basis. Time is running out for the Russian Mars mission because scientists are not able to control the craft.
The Mars mission sent up by the Russians was an ambitious one. The spacecraft was going to launch a probe to Mar's largest moon, Phobos. This probe was going to scoop up some soil from Phobos and return it back to Earth. This would have been a tremendous opportunity for scientists to study material from Phobos.
In addition, the Russian spacecraft was going to launch a Chinese built satellite once it arrived on station near Mars. This would have been the first satellite sent to Mars by China.
If the Phobos-Grunt mission were to fall back to Earth, it will make for a fantastic light display. There is also a chance that some of material from the satellite will reach the ground. Most notably, there is a large amount of hazardous rocket fuel on board. Some of this toxic fuel may not completely burn up in the Earth's atmosphere upon re-entry.
No comments:
Post a Comment