A handful of these explorers are currently in orbit or on the surface and are helping increase our knowledge of the Red Planet. However, the two moons of Mars, Phobos and Deimos, remain relatively unstudied.
So far, the two moons have been studied remotely by Mars-orbiting spacecraft. They have also been briefly observed during close fly-bys, which have revealed many unusual features. For the time being, a reasonable explanation of the composition and origin of the Martian moons remains a matter of debate. Phobos-Soil was designed to provide new insight to these fields of research by investigating its target's environment from its position in a quasi-synchronous orbit around the moon; studying the physical and chemical properties of the regolith at the landing site; and measuring its bulk characteristics.
The samples of the moon sent back in the return module were to be analysed thoroughly in terrestrial laboratories. In addition to enhancing our knowledge of its origin and evolution, the study of Phobos would reveal new information about its shared history with Mars, and tell us more about the Red Planet itself. The actual site would be decided based on observations from orbit, the spacecraft trajectory around the moon as well as environmental factors.
In its launch configuration, the mission included an orbiter and lander system, a descent module, a return module and a return capsule. The Phobos-Soil Phobos-Grunt orbiter and lander system. The payload consisted of several optical cameras that were to obtain panoramic and stereo images of the surface near the landing site.
A set of instruments were included to study the properties of the near-Mars plasma environment and its interaction with the solar wind.
Seismic methods and long wave radar were included for the study of Phobos's internal structure. The mission also carried two life sciences experiments to test survivability of microbes in space. In addition to remote sensing instruments, the lander was equipped with a comprehensive suite of instruments to study the Phobos regolith in situ.
Scientists in Russia would like to try another Phobos-Grunt mission. But this would be expensive and is likely not possible before To overcome the system failures made blatant by this latest failure would require significant changes in the Russian space industry. On the table, however, is a nearer-term and easier-to-implement proposal: the Russians could launch the European Space Agency's Mars Trace Gas Orbiter in and the ExoMars rover in In return for launches, the Russians would share in the missions' science.
The Russian and European space agencies are now considering the possibilities. Sadly, the U. If the fault lies in a hardware malfunction, Phobos-Grunt may well be doomed. Onboard battery power provides just a short window in which to make any corrections. At first, Roscosmos thought this time opportunity might last only days; it now says, "the orbit parameters and fuel supplies on board showed that such commands must be given in the course of two weeks".
It's a mode whereby the spacecraft knows it cannot do itself any harm, and that gives controllers on the ground the time to get the spacecraft back into the right configuration and to do the correct manoeuvres. Russia had been hoping that Phobos-Grunt would finally bury its Martian curse.
Moscow has despatched a total of 16 missions to the Red Planet since the s. None has successfully completed its goals, with the most recent endeavour - the sophisticated Mars spacecraft - being destroyed in a failed launch. Provided engineers can correct the current problem, Phobos-Grunt should reach Mars late next year.
After dumping the cruise stage and releasing Yinghuo-1, the main spacecraft would then manoeuvre itself into position to land on Phobos. Phobos-Grunt is a hefty spacecraft, requiring several elements to complete the tasks of travelling out to Mars, landing on Phobos, picking up its samples and then despatching them home.
The total mass for the mission with all its fuel is more than 13 tonnes. That makes it a bigger venture even than the six-tonne Cassini-Huygens craft, launched to Saturn in and the heaviest space mission of recent times. Detailed mapping of the moon has been conducted by the European Space Agency's Mars Express MEx satellite, and this information is being used to identify a suitable location to land in February Once on the surface, a robotic arm will pick up samples of the regolith "soil".
Some of this material will be analysed there and then, but a portion of it - about g - will be transferred to a canister for return to Earth. Phobos-Grunt was also carrying China's first attempt at a Mars orbiter, along with an experiment run by the United States-based Planetary Society designed to study how a long journey through deep space affects micro-organisms.
China wrote off its orbiter, a tiny craft called Yinghuo-1, as a total loss in mid-November. It may even be possible to salvage some science out of LIFE, researchers say, but only if the return capsule survives and is recovered.
Phobos-Grunt's fall may add to a growing perception that the sky is falling, for it was the third uncontrolled re-entry of a big spacecraft in the last four months. NASA's 6. Both crashed over stretches of empty ocean, causing no casualites. Nobody is known to have ever been injured by a piece of man-made space debris.
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