Russia's Mars-Moon Probe Stuck in Earth Orbit
Russia's first interplanetary mission since the Soviet era appears to be in trouble.
Within minutes of its Wednesday launch, the unmanned probe headed for the Martian moon Phobos developed a problem with its flight computer and now remains stuck in an earth orbit.
Russia's Federal Space Agency chief Vladimir Popovkin said the spacecraft failed to fire its engines on two separate occasions. The engines are needed to send the spacecraft out of earth orbit and towards Mars.
Plans call for the unmanned spacecraft to reach Mars in October next year and then land on Phobos, the larger of Mars' two asteroid-like moons, in early 2013 before returning to Earth with soil samples in August 2014.
Engineers now have just three days to reset the probe's computer system before its batteries die.
The inter-planetary spacecraft was launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan shortly after midnight Moscow time and successfully separated from its Zenit-2SB rocket about 10 minutes later.
The main objective of the three-year Phobos-Soil mission is to collect soil from the Martian lunar surface and return it to Earth. The mission name in Russian is Phobos-Grunt, with grunt being the Russian word for soil. The planet Mars is only one-third the size of the Earth. It is situated between Earth and the massive gas-giant planet Jupiter, which is the largest in the solar system. Phobos measures about 23 kilometers across.
A pioneering space agency
Two Russian missions to Phobos in 1988, and a Martian lander mission in 1996, never reached their destinations. Experts say Russia hopes a successful Phobos-Soil mission will help boost the reputation of its pioneering space program.
Currently, only the United States, Japan and the European Space Agency have succeeded in carrying out scientific missions beyond Earth’s moon.
Despite past difficulties with its Mars missions, Russia's space program has scored many major achievements in spaceflight during its more than 50-year history.
In 1957, the Soviet Union became the first country to place a satellite in earth orbit. In 1959, the unmanned Soviet Luna 3 spacecraft gave mankind its first view of the so-called dark side of the Moon. Two years later, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first human to orbit the Earth. Russian Soyuz spacecraft are currently the only means to transport personnel, equipment and supplies to and from the International Space Station.
fuent: La Voz de América, http://www.voanews.com/english/news/science-technology/Russias-Mars-Moon-Probe-Stuck-in-Earth-Orbit-133531998.html
Within minutes of its Wednesday launch, the unmanned probe headed for the Martian moon Phobos developed a problem with its flight computer and now remains stuck in an earth orbit.
Russia's Federal Space Agency chief Vladimir Popovkin said the spacecraft failed to fire its engines on two separate occasions. The engines are needed to send the spacecraft out of earth orbit and towards Mars.
Plans call for the unmanned spacecraft to reach Mars in October next year and then land on Phobos, the larger of Mars' two asteroid-like moons, in early 2013 before returning to Earth with soil samples in August 2014.
Engineers now have just three days to reset the probe's computer system before its batteries die.
The inter-planetary spacecraft was launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan shortly after midnight Moscow time and successfully separated from its Zenit-2SB rocket about 10 minutes later.
The main objective of the three-year Phobos-Soil mission is to collect soil from the Martian lunar surface and return it to Earth. The mission name in Russian is Phobos-Grunt, with grunt being the Russian word for soil. The planet Mars is only one-third the size of the Earth. It is situated between Earth and the massive gas-giant planet Jupiter, which is the largest in the solar system. Phobos measures about 23 kilometers across.
A pioneering space agency
Two Russian missions to Phobos in 1988, and a Martian lander mission in 1996, never reached their destinations. Experts say Russia hopes a successful Phobos-Soil mission will help boost the reputation of its pioneering space program.
Currently, only the United States, Japan and the European Space Agency have succeeded in carrying out scientific missions beyond Earth’s moon.
Despite past difficulties with its Mars missions, Russia's space program has scored many major achievements in spaceflight during its more than 50-year history.
In 1957, the Soviet Union became the first country to place a satellite in earth orbit. In 1959, the unmanned Soviet Luna 3 spacecraft gave mankind its first view of the so-called dark side of the Moon. Two years later, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first human to orbit the Earth. Russian Soyuz spacecraft are currently the only means to transport personnel, equipment and supplies to and from the International Space Station.
fuent: La Voz de América, http://www.voanews.com/english/news/science-technology/Russias-Mars-Moon-Probe-Stuck-in-Earth-Orbit-133531998.html
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