Phobos-Grunt: a mid-January re-entry

Following a malfunction of its own propulsion stage, the Russian probe has been locked in Earth orbit (see this article) and attempts to regain control have unfortunately not been successful. Colonel Alexei Zolotukhin, spokesman for the Russian Space Forces (cited by the RIA-Novosti press agency), said that Phobos-Grunt should re-enter our planet’s atmosphere on 15 January. He also stated that various factors could cause the date, which is only an estimation, to change. The probe was to have landed on Phobos, the bigger of Mars’ two small moons in order to bring a sample back to Earth.

Published on 5 January 2012

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