The German TIRA (Tracking and Imaging Radar) facility caught this image of Phobos-Grunt The failed Russian Mars probe, Phobos-Grunt, continued its descent to Earth on Saturday, losing hundreds of metres in height every hour.
By 23:00 Saturday (GMT), the 13-tonne spacecraft was circling the planet at a mean altitude of 147km.It is likely to impact the thicker parts of the atmosphere and burn up sometime late on Sunday, according to orbital tracking experts.
The Russian space agency says little of the probe will survive to the surface.
It calculates no more than 200kg in maybe 20-30 fragments.
Precisely where on the Earth's surface - and when - this material could impact is impossible to say, however. There are huge uncertainties in forecasting the final moments of a re-entry.
"The major uncertainty for prediction is the atmospheric density the spacecraft encounters in orbit, but it's also due to the orientation of the vehicle as it comes in," explained Prof Richard Crowther, the UK Space Agency's chief engineer.Continued
1 comment:
It is good to know that Russia is making all attempts since 1960 to study Mars. Of course they have many failed attempts and yet to get the success, but their effort can't be under estimated. The difficult task like this can't be achived in a day. Every failure will teach them a lesson and will provide new ideas. This will help Russia to take a renewed attempt with more sophistication.
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