Fobos-Grunt

Fobos-Grunt[2] (also spelled Phobos-Grunt, also called Phobos Sample Return Mission[3]) was an unmanned Russian spacecraft. It was an attempted sample return mission to Phobos, a moon of the planet Mars.[3][4][5] Scientists intended Phobos-Grunt to orbit and study Mars. It was meant to look at Mars' atmosphere and dust storms, plasma and radiation. Then, Phobos-Grunt should have landed on Phobos and returned a 200 g[4][5] soil sample to Earth.[3][4][5][6]

Fobos-Grunt
A model of Fobos-Grunt presented during CeBIT 2011
Mission typePhobos lander
Sample return
OperatorRoskosmos
COSPAR ID2011-065A
SATCAT no.37872
Mission durationPlanned: 3 years
Final: failed at launch
Spacecraft properties
ManufacturerLavochkin, Russian Space Research Institute
Launch mass13,505 kg (29,773 lb) with fuel
Dry mass2,300 kg (5,100 lb)
Power1000 W (main orbiter/lander) + 300 W (Earth return vehicle)[1]
Start of mission
Launch date8 November 2011, 20:16 (2011-11-08UTC20:16Z) UTC
RocketZenit-2SB
Launch siteBaikonur 45/1
End of mission
Decay date15 January 2012 (2012-01-16)
Orbital parameters
Reference systemGeocentric
RegimeLow Earth
Perigee112 kilometres (70 mi)
Apogee125 kilometres (78 mi)
Inclination51.4°
Epoch15 January 2012
 

The spacecraft was the first Russian interplanetary mission since Mars 96.[5] It was launched on 8 November 2011 (UTC), aboard a Zenit rocket, at Baikonur Cosmodrome.[3] It was sent with the Chinese spacecraft Yinghuo-1[3][5] and with the Living Interplanetary Flight Experiment.[3]

The name Phobos-Grunt (Russian: Фобос-Грунт) is Russian for Phobos-Soil.[5]

References
  1. http://galspace.spb.ru/index244.html
  2. "Russian spacecraft for Fobos-Grunt program to be controlled from Yevpatoria". Kyiv Post. Retrieved 2011-09-05.
  3. "Timeline for the Phobos Sample Return Mission (Phobos Grunt)". The Planetary Society. Archived from the original on 2010-11-28. Retrieved 2011-09-05.
  4. "Phobos-Grunt: destination Mars in 2011". CNES. Retrieved 2011-09-05.
  5. "Phobos-Grunt". NASA. Archived from the original on 2011-11-10. Retrieved 2011-05-09.
  6. "Phobos-Grunt". ESA. Retrieved 2011-05-09.

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