The Russian probe Phobos-Grunt that was launched on Tuesday has failed to escape its orbit around Earth.
A major malfunction has doomed the probe, that was headed for the tiny Mars moon Phobos.
The goal of the project was to land on the moon's surface, gather samples then return to Earth in 2014.
And at a cost of less than $200 million, it was considerably cheaper than the proposed NASA mission which is expected to see costs run into the billions of dollars.
Now, however, it has become evident that the probe will not achieve its mission and will, instead, crash back to Earth in the next couple of weeks.
Image Credit: NASA
Comments
Noooooo! Crazy Russians!
So maybe all those billions spent by NASA might turn out to have been a wise investment…if they mean that, unlike Phobos-Grunt, Curiosity actually *arrives* on Mars…and works.
In spaceflight, cheap may not be cheerful. In the UK back in 2004, there was much rubbishing by the liberal press, BBC et al of the hugely expensive US Spirit and Opportunity probes, compared to plucky little Britain’s Beagle2 lander which had been built on a shoestring. Beagle, of course, failed on landing, and never did any science. Spirit lasted for six years, and Opportunity is still going strong. The British media try not to report that, and have not, so far, said anything about Phobos-Grunt’s failure. I wonder if it’s been reported in North Korea?
MARS DEFENSE FORCE STRIKES AGAIN!
In an uncharacteristically proactive move, the terrorist group calling itself “Mars Defense Force” or “MDF” has managed to destroy an outbound Martian surveillance probe. They have posted responsibility to several sympathetic websites and blogs. Since the 1970’s, the MDF has a managed to destroy approximately 50% of inbound Earth origin probes. In a long winded and rambling statement, the spokesmartian for the terrorist organization explained that such spying would not be tolerated ending its statement with a boisterous “FREE MARS” chant.
To MDF:
: )