Phobos-Grunt Options

[Hungry4info]

@Drkskywxlt

I know what you mean... they haven't had a successful interplanetary mission in a long time.

I'll also be amazed if it makes it to orbit. But I'm sure going to be cheering for them all the way

[Phil Stooke]

Conditions are much better now than they were in the time of Mars 96. The amazing thing is that Russia managed to launch Mars 96 at all. People were working without pay, buildings weren't being heated - we could go on. The situation is greatly improved, so even if there are legitimate concerns there's no need to expect a total failure. I'm just writing up the section on Phobos 2 for my new book, and I hope to have a lot more to say about Phobos-Grunt than I had to say about Phobos 2.

Phil

[Phil Stooke]

And speaking of my book... here's a comparison of maps of Phobos made from five different missions. From top to bottom they are Mariner 9, Viking, Phobos 2, Mars Global Surveyor and Mars Express. The last one cheats a bit, it is largely Mars Express but areas seen better by other missions (mainly on the right, or trailing, side) are filled in with that data. I haven't looked to see if any areas are completely unseen by Mars Express yet.

Phil





The south pole bit on the Mars Global Surveyor map might come as a surprise to some folks. It is seen in Marsshine.

[Phil Stooke]

Can anybody help me with something...???? I wouldn't normally ask for something like this, but I'm running up against all sorts of problems getting a certain journal article in a readable form.

This is what I really need: Figure 2 of "Phobos sample return mission" (Galeev et al., 1996. Adv. Space Research, v. 17, no. 12, pp. 31-47).

Our library used to have this on paper, but now it's only available online. Fine - I have the file on my screen now. But the figure is illegible, a solid black mess.

So - if anyone has this on paper, or has an online version which is legible - just that figure - can you send me a message or email? I may need nothing more than a brief description of what it shows. In fact it might not show what I want, so the briefest comment might be enough.

Phil

[Phil Stooke]

Speaking of Phobos sample return, here's an illustration from my work in progress... sampling sites for the Aladdin mission, for both Phobos and Deimos. Deimos is the bottom map, Phobos the two upper ones. It's interesting to see that Phobos 2 was to land nearby (right end of middle map) and Phobos-Grunt is going to this same area as well - for dynamic and illumination reasons. If you land on the other side of Phobos, facing Mars, you lose illumination during the frequent eclipses as well as at night.

My Atlas of Mars Exploration is now all but finished (4 illustrations to go) in a first draft form. Another year to fix it up.

Phil

[konangrit]

Mars probe blastoff in November

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

The nation's first Mars probe will be launched from a Russian rocket in November, two years later than originally planned.

Mars explorer Yinghuo-1 marks the country's first attempt at deep space exploration after sending a probe to the moon, the state-run China Daily reported, citing comments from an Academy of Space Technology official.

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp...1112054/1/.html

[Paolo]

***Edited***

apparently my source messed up and shared some news he had no right to share.
sorry for any inconvenience. Admin can you delete this post?

[tedstryk]

This EGU 2011 abstract seems to contradict reports I have seen that suggest that MetNet Precursor has been bumped off Phobos-Grunt. I sure hope it is correct.

[SFJCody]

Yeah, I'm confused by the status of MetNet as well. It's an exciting project but I wish they'd put out some clear statements about their plans for the next few years.

[tedstryk]

Yeah, I'm confused by the status of MetNet as well. It's an exciting project but I wish they'd put out some clear statements about their plans for the next few years.

I don't think there will be any clear plans until they send the precursor.

[Phil Stooke]

"This EGU 2011 abstract seems to contradict reports ....."

I suspect this tells us nothing about the fate of METNET. It's a study of how timing Phobos transits could help locate the landing site. That idea goes back to Viking 1 and was planned for Beagle 2 as well. The statement about Phobos-Grunt is probably just a cut and paste job from older text, not reflecting the current status.

I'd like it to be correct as well... but I don't think it is.

Phil

[tedstryk]

I dropped an e-mail to a contact of mine within the project, so maybe this can be cleared up.

[tedstryk]

OK, my source tells me that MetNet will not fly on Phobos-Grunt due to problems still being worked out with the communications system. They are hoping for 2014 now.

[konangrit]

Russian engineers have made significant improvements to a space vehicle “Phobos-Grunt”, which should have been sent to Mars in 2009, but the launch was postponed till 2011.

Engineers have improved the shape of a soil sample collecting manipulator. The vehicle was first equipped with a “hand” with a forceps-type holder, and now it has two “hands” with more than one holder type.

Moreover, the vehicle also has a Polish penetrator for making rock fragments, convenient to bring back home to the researchers. Additional tests revealed defects in some equipment of the vehicle, and now all defects eliminated. The “Phobos-Grunt” vehicle will soon be tested in a thermal pressure chamber.

The launch is scheduled for October-November 2011.

http://www.russia-ic.com/news/show/11819/

[Paolo]

the Lavochkin website has a short story (in Russian) on Fobos-Grunt making electrical and thermal-vacuum tests that also includes some nice pictures of the spacecraft (or an engineering model) complete with YH-1