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/sci/ - Science & Math

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4026000 No.4026000 [Reply] [Original]

No Phobos Grunt thread?

The Russians have not been able to make contact with the probe.

The latest is that scientists think the reason it is not responding is because the Russian engineers for some stupid fucking reason built the probe in such a way that has the propulsion unit obstructing the low gain antennas.

So signals can't get through.

And apparently Russias space agency has no way of tracking its own probes, so they are having to ask regular people in South America and NASA+ESA to track it for them which makes things difficult.

For those of you that don't know what I am talking about, Russia is trying to send a probe to Mars' moon, Phobos, to collect samples and bring them back.

The probe failed to escape earths orbit after a couple of misfires, so now we have 13 metric tonnes of toxic fuel hovering above our heads, which will fall to earth in a couple of weeks if the Russians can't get it to work within the next 2 days, which is how long the battery charge on the electronics can last right now.

>> No.4026011

>>4026000

lolled

>> No.4026030

Also, the probe was carrying a Chinese satellite that was meant to go into Martian orbit.

So the Chinese are probably upset about it.

>> No.4026038

>And apparently Russias space agency has no way of tracking its own probes, so they are having to ask regular people in South America and NASA+ESA to track it for them which makes things difficult.

This is true of /all/ the space agencies.

Nobody has listening stations built all around the world, even the US has giant blind spots.

So we talk to each other and share info.

>> No.4026051

also as general space news thread,

NASA's Mars Science Laboratory rover is set to launch on the 25th of this month. It's a rover the size of a smart car that can shoot lasers at rocks.

>> No.4026054
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4026054

They should have asked the inhabitants first

Q: What are Mars' moons?
A: Disguised bases.

>> No.4026101

Shitty, hopefully they're able to save it.

>> No.4026126

inb4 the probe comes crashing down on the Russian space agencys head quarters and all the russian scientists run out in flames as benny hill music plays in the background.

>> No.4026150

inb4 the probe comes crashing down on US city. US government blames it on terrorists and invades Iran.

>> No.4026160

welp Russia is ruining space for everyone.

>> No.4026164

Firstly: EPIC FAIL

Secondly: 13 tons of fuel? Son, that doesn't mean shit for a re-entry.

Thirdly: If we had a real HUMAN PRESENCE IN SPACE, malfs like this would be simple to fix.

>> No.4026246

Just what we needed, something else falling out of the sky.

Space programs have been getting great PR lately.

>> No.4026272
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4026272

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fobos-Grunt#Criticism
>While Fobos-Grunt lands on and returns from Phobos, it might lose control and crash land on Mars. It is speculated that the heat-resistant extremophile bacteria would survive such a crash, on the basis that Microbispora bacteria survived the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster.

Is this the dawn of the age of accidental terraforming?