Failed mission

Russian officials have declared their country's Mars Phobos-Grunt probe, launched last Wednesday, as "lost." The mission was meant to head to a Martian moon, retrieve soil samples and then return to Earth by 2015.

"All attempts to obtain telemetric information from the Phobos-Grunt probe and activate its command system have failed," quoted an unnamed Russian space sector source, as reported by the Interfax news agency. "The probe must be considered lost."

After the launch, the probe's engine failed to fire, leaving it trapped - for now - in Earth's orbit. The probe is expected to fall back to Earth sometime later this month or next month.

In a meeting with reporters in Moscow on Monday, Vladimir Popovkin, head of Roscosmos, the Russian space agency, said he remained confident that his agency could regain control of the probe.

"We estimate that the Phobos-Grunt will fly until January, and to make it perform its mission, we still have time until the beginning of December," he said, according to the RIA Novosti news agency.

Terrestrial damage unlikely

Popovkin brushed aside suggestions that if the probe indeed crashed to Earth, it would cause damage over a populated area.

"There are 7.5 metric tons of fuel in the aluminum tanks on board. We have no doubts that they will explode [and destroy the probe] upon re-entry," Popovkin said. "It is highly unlikely that its parts would reach Earth."

The hiccup in this mission is just the latest in a recent string of setbacks for the Russian space agency. But Popovkin emphasized that sending a probe successfully to Mars is no easy task.

"As to Mars, it is a planet that does not like earthlings," he said. "Only 30 percent of Soviet-Russian launches to Mars were successful. The Americans have had 50 percent success, while all attempts by Japan and Europe have failed so far."

Author: Cyrus Farivar (AFP, RIA Novosti)
Editor: John Blau