Phobos-Grunt Mission

[Deadstring67]

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For more info: Phobos-Grunt mission

Fobos-Grunt is an unmanned lander that will study Phobos and then return a soil sample to Earth. It will also study Mars from orbit, including its atmosphere and dust storms, plasma and radiation. It is currently scheduled to be launched in November 2011 on a Zenit rocket launcher with a Fregat upper stage. The return vehicle is scheduled back to Earth on August 2014.

Source: Fobos-Grunt - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[rayvega]

TS, after ni siya mo land sa iya destination ba, unsaun mani niya pag balik?

[rodsky]

TS, after ni siya mo land sa iya destination ba, unsaun mani niya pag balik?

The top portion is the return vehicle--it will separate from the larger bottom part with the sample and re-enter earth's atmosphere after journeying around 9 months from the Mars area.

-RODION

[rodsky]

UPDATE: Launch all set in two days.

Two interesting things about the Phobos-Grunt mission, aside from the sample-return goal:

1. It's carrying a Chinese Mars/Phobos orbiter: Yinghuo-1 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia This is the first Chinese spacecraft to reach Mars/Phobos.

2. It's also carrying an interesting experiment called LIFE: Living Interplanetary Flight Experiment - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Latest newsfeed:
Russia’s Ambitious Phobos-Grunt Mission Set to Launch on Wednesday at Parabolic Arc

A site where one can watch the launch live: Center for Ground-Based Space Infrastructure Facilities Operation -

-RODION

[Inting Butikol]

If they will bring back rock/soil sample from Mars to Earth, how would they make it sure na we ain't gonna be contaminated if ever infisted ang sample nga ila gidala?

[rodsky]

If they will bring back rock/soil sample from Mars to Earth, how would they make it sure na we ain't gonna be contaminated if ever infisted ang sample nga ila gidala?

A) The sample will come from Phobos (Mars' moon), not Mars

B) There is no guarantee. But then in the 1960's we've brought back a LOT of moondust, lunar regolith and rocks, and the Apollo astronauts were exposed to all this material and there were no ill effects--this is the same mindset that the RSA has in the case of the Phobos samples

C) Even if what you're proposing may be true, then it's no wonder because the Panspermia theory (i.e. life on Earth came elsewhere--Earth was just seeded by meteorites/asteroids/comets) has recently been bolstered by new findings: NASA says we might all be aliens | Technology News Blog - Yahoo! News And thus if contamination does occur, then that's life!

-RODION

[rodsky]

Quick update: Adding the Phobos-Grunt official image gallery link ÔÅÄÅÐÀËÜÍÎÅ ÊÎÑÌÈ×ÅÑÊÎÅ ÀÃÅÍÒÑÒÂÎ (ÐÎÑÊÎÑÌÎÑ)| Ôîòîãàëåðåÿ

Sample image, very majestic shot in my opinion, brings back a lot of "old school spaceflight" memories:


The images at the top are the most recent ones, showing that the Zenit-2 launch vehicle is now primed at the launchpad and all set for Wednesday's launch.

Also a great animation that explains how the mission will unfold in the next few months/years:
http://www.universetoday.com/90725/a...s-moon-phobos/

Here is a photo of Phobos, indicating the possible/candidate landing sites for the probe:

Murag it's going to land on a giant potato!

-RODION

[rodsky]

UPDATE: Four hours to go before launch! Удачи! Счастливого пути!

-RODION

[rodsky]

UPDATE: Just one and a half hours before launch. The live-streaming site is now up:
Center for Ground-Based Space Infrastructure Facilities Operation - Source #2

If you have an iPhone or iPad you can also watch the launch using those devices:
http://www.tsenki.com/en/broadcast/broadcast/
Just selection option number 3 or 4.

Here's a snapshot I took earlier

clearly showing the well-lit Zenit-2 all set for the launch.

-RODION

[rodsky]

Update: New live streaming site! Spaceflight Now | Live Video

4 minutes to launch!


Launch tower has been retracted...

-RODION