ESA tracking station loses contact with Phobos-Grunt
The ESA tracking station that had made contact with Phobos-Grunt earlier this week failed repeatedly yesterday to re-establish contact.
Tag: Russia
An update on the efforts to save Phobos-Grunt
An update on the efforts to save Phobos-Grunt.
“The first pass was successful in that the spacecraft’s radio downlink was commanded to switch on and telemetry was received,” said Wolfgang Hell, ESA’s Service Manager for Phobos–Grunt. Telemetry typically includes information on the status and health of a spacecraft’s systems. “The signals received from Phobos–Grunt were much stronger than those initially received on 22 November, in part due to having better knowledge of the spacecraft’s orbital position.”
The second pass was short, and so was used only to uplink commands – no receipt of signal was expected. However, the following three passes in the early morning of 24 November proved to be more difficult: no signal was received from Phobos–Grunt.
ESA antenna contacts Phobos-Grunt again, this time downloading telemetry data
An ESA tracking station has once again contacted Phobos-Grunt, this time downloading telemetry data.
“We have again established contact with the Phobos-Grunt spacecraft, we obtained telemetry reports, they are being analyzed by our colleagues from the Lavochkin Research and Production Association,” ESA spokesman Rene Pischel said.
An ESA tracking station in Australia has made contact with Phobos-Grunt
An ESA tracking station in Australia has made contact with Phobos-Grunt.
It appears that the chances of saving the spacecraft remain slim, though improved.
Russia is considering shifting its planetary research from Mars to the Moon, following the failure of Phobos-Grunt
Russia is considering shifting its planetary research from Mars to the Moon, following the failure of the Phobos-Grunt mission to Mars.
Russian Soyuz capsule lands safely with three astronauts
Russian Soyuz capsule lands safely with three astronauts.
Soyuz with three astronauts undocks from ISS
Soyuz with three astronauts undocks from ISS.
Is shooting down Phobos-Grunt an option?
Is shooting down Phobos-Grunt an option?
Soyuz capsule had docked with ISS
The Soyuz capsule with three astronauts has successfully docked with ISS.
Russian space agency head says there is still a chance to save Phobos-Grunt
The head of the Russian space agency said yesterday that there is still a chance to save Phobos-Grunt.
“The probe is going to be in orbit until January, but in the first days of December the window will close” to re-programme it, he told Russian news agencies at Russia’s Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
He also said that the probe will not pose a threat, and will burn up in the atmosphere if it should fall to Earth.
Soyuz rocket successfully launches three astronauts into orbit
A Soyuz rocket has successfully launched three astronauts into orbit.
This is the first manned launch since the shuttles were retired, and the first Russian manned mission since the failure of a Soyuz rocket in August. If all goes well, the astronauts will dock with ISS in two days.
First manned Soyuz launch set for Sunday night
The first manned Soyuz launch since the launch failure in August is set for Sunday night.