Russia blames ‘cosmic rays’ for Mars probe failure, AFP “Carrying out such a large-scale, lengthy job, they should have taken into consideration the effect of outer space on the equipment of an interplanetary station.” He also blamed sub-standard or fake foreign-made microchips used in the probe, saying more than 60 percent were not designed for use in space. “This is imported equipment and of course this is probably a reason,” […]

U.S. Removes Phobos-Grunt Data from Web, Aviation Week “The U.S. military has removed links to Phobos-Grunt tracking data posted on a public website detailing orbital parameters of the ill-fated Russian Mars mission that Russia says reentered Earth’s atmosphere over the Pacific Ocean Jan. 15. .. But the military deviated from normal practice when it removed links to the spacecraft’s reentry predictions while neglecting to publish final reentry data for the […]

Did U.S. radar fry Russian Mars probe?, Washington Post “Russian space officials are speculating that American radar may have zapped the failed Mars moon probe that fell into the ocean Sunday, a prominent Russian newspaper said Tuesday. In Washington, NASA rejected the theory. NASA scientists were not using the Marshall Islands radar on Nov. 9 to track an asteroid, as suggested by Russian space officials, said Bob Jacobs, a NASA […]

Russian Phobos-Grunt Mars probe falls in Pacific Ocean, RIA Novosti “Phobos-Grunt fragments have crashed down in the Pacific Ocean,” Russia’s Defense Ministry official Alexei Zolotukhin told RIA Novosti, adding that the fragments fell in 1,250 kilometers to the west of the island of Wellington. The spacecraft fell at about 21:45 on Sunday Moscow time [17:45 GMT].” ESA Coordinates International Satellite Reentry Campaign for Phobos-Grunt “An international campaign to assess the […]

Shady side of Earth: Western trace in space probe’s failure?, Russia Today “In an interview to the Russian newspaper Izvestia, head of the Russian space agency Roscosmos, Vladimir Popovkin, said that intended influence on the probe cannot be completely excluded. “I do not want to blame anyone, but these days there are very powerful means to influence space vehicles,” he told the newspaper, adding that it is still unclear why […]

Underfunding doomed Russian Mars probe, lawyer says, USA Today “Russia’s Phobos-Grunt (“grunt” is Russian for ground or soil) mission aimed for a first landing of a probe on the Martian moon Phobos. Launched Nov. 8, the spacecraft reached Earth orbit but failed to fire the rocket that would send it on an eight-month interplanetary trip to Mars. It’s likely to fall to Earth around Jan. 15, the Russian Defense Ministry […]

ESA station unable to establish new link with Phobos-Grunt “After establishing contact with Russia’s Phobos-Grunt Mars mission earlier this week, ESA’s tracking station in Australia received no signal from the spacecraft last night. ESA engineers are investigating the cause in close collaboration with Russian mission controllers. Despite listening intently during four scheduled communication passes during the night of 24-25 November, ESA’s 15 m-diameter dish antenna at Perth, Australia, did not […]

Russia’s Mars Mission May Be In Trouble, Discovery News “We had a difficult night,” Russian space agency head Vladimir Popovkin told the Russian news agency RIA Novosti, RussianSpaceWeb.com reports. “We could not locate the spacecraft for a very long time. Now we know its coordinates.” Russian Mars mission halted by glitch in low Earth orbit, SpaceflightNow “A subsequent story in Novosti late Tuesday night said such a problem could be […]