The Russian Phobos-Grunt space probe has really had a rough run of things. The craft was originally intended to land on the Martian moon Phobos and return a soil sample by 2014. Instead, Phobos-Grunt has been stuck in orbit since it was launched in early November. Today, the probe made an uncontrolled re-entry through the Earth’s atmosphere over the Pacific Ocean just before 1:00 P.M. E.S.T..
After reaching orbit atop a Zenit rocket on November 8, Phobos-Grunt was supposed to fire its engines sending it on a course to Mars. However, the Russian space agency was not able to contact the craft. Over the next two weeks, officials scrambled to restore communication with the probe. The Russian space agency hoped the mission could be salvaged before November 21, after which the orbits of Earth and Mars would make reaching the red planet impossible. Their attempts were unsuccessful, though brief contact was established with the probe after the critical date.
via Geekosystem
January 15, 2012
