Is Phobos-Grunt Dead? Troubled Russian Probe Still Unresponsive

by Denise Chow, SPACE.com Staff Writer

Date: 02 December 2011 Time: 04:39 PM ET

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An artist's concept of the Phobos-Grunt spacecraft nearing the Martian moon Phobos. CREDIT: Roscosmos View full size image

The European Space Agency announced today (Dec. 2) that it will stop trying to contact the beleaguered Russian Phobos-Grunt spacecraft, which has been stuck in the wrong orbit for almost a month now.
Russia's Phobos-Grunt probe launched Nov. 8 on a mission to collect and return samples from Mars' moon Phobos. But the spacecraft's thrusters malfunctioned shortly after launch, leaving it stuck in a low orbit around Earth rather than on a course for the Red Planet.

MORE: http://www.space.com/13811-russian-phobos-grunt-spacecraft-unresponsive.html

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