Launch News (Failure) Phobos-Grunt and YingHuo-1 atop Zenit-2 on November 8/9, 2011

N_Molson

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Russia trying to salvage Phobos-Grunt mission

BY STEPHEN CLARK
SPACEFLIGHT NOW
Posted: November 9, 2011

One day after a Russian Mars probe was left stranded in low Earth orbit, engineers planned to begin trying to save the mission Wednesday in hopes the problem was a relatively simple software glitch.

After launching from the Baikonur Cosmodrome on Tuesday, the 29,000-pound Phobos-Grunt spacecraft entered an orbit with a low point of 128 miles and a high point of 216 miles. But the craft's propulsion unit was supposed to fire twice later Tuesday night to raise its altitude and inject the probe on a trajectory toward Mars.

Neither firing occurred, leaving Phobos-Grunt stuck in orbit.

Phobos-Grunt was orbiting out of range of Russian ground stations for most of Wednesday, but its flight path was expected to pass over Russia again beginning around 1900 GMT (2 p.m. EST).

Only then can Russian engineers begin to diagnose what caused Tuesday's post-launch problems. Officials are hopeful they can trace the anomaly to a software issue that could be solved with a reboot or patch.

Top Russian space managers said a hardware problem would pose more dire consequences for the $163 million mission, according to news reports.

Vladimir Popovkin, head of the Russian space agency, said the engine firing mishap could have been caused by a problem in the orientation of the spacecraft or the probe's computer may not have sent an ignition command on time.

Otherwise, the spacecraft was stable and in a known orbit, according to Russian officials.

It was unclear if control teams would upload commands for the engine burns Wednesday night, or if the next attempt to set course for Mars would wait until another day.

The Russian space agency said they have two weeks to issue the commands based on the spacecraft's orbital altitude and its energy supply. The timeframe is different than the one initially stated by Popovkin, who said engineers have three days to save the mission.

If Russia is unable to save the mission, the spacecraft would be subject to atmospheric drag, lowering its altitude until it fell back to Earth.

Phobos-Grunt is more massive than NASA's Upper Atmospheric Research Satellite, which re-entered Earth's atmosphere in late September. The highly-publicized re-entry, which had a 1-in-3,200 chance of striking a person, occurred over the Pacific Ocean.

A German scientific satellite fell to Earth in October with no reports of damage to property.

Phobos-Grunt still carries a full load of toxic hydrazine and nitrogen tetroxide propellant to reach Mars and enter orbit around the Red Planet. The propellant potentially makes Phobos-Grunt a greater threat to the public than either recent re-entry or the USA-193 spy satellite that was shot down by U.S. missile in 2008 to avoid an uncontrolled fall back to Earth.

U.S. government officials cited frozen hydrazine fuel in USA-193's fuel tanks as the reason to worry about the satellite's uncontrolled re-entry, leading the Bush administration to shoot down the spacecraft before it could naturally decay from orbit.

Russian officials quoted in the RIA Novosti news agency said Phobos-Grunt could remain in orbit for up to a month without a risk of falling.

The Phobos-Grunt propulsion system is derived from the Fregat upper stage, a hydrazine-fueled space tug that often places satellites in high-altitude orbits above Earth.

The Fregat-based main propulsion unit was supposed to stay attached to Phobos-Grunt for course correct maneuvers and a critical braking burn to arrive in orbit around Mars in October 2012.

After getting to Mars, the probe was supposed to jettison the propulsion unit and deploy China's Yinghuo 1 orbiter, which rides piggyback on Phobos-Grunt for the journey there.

By early 2013, Phobos-Grunt was scheduled to approach Phobos and study the moon with remote sensing instruments, giving Russian scientists data needed to select a landing site.

Using a laser altimeter and radar navigation sensor, Phobos-Grunt was expected to descend to the surface of the moon in February 2013. Because of the weak gravity field at Phobos, the probe must make a gentle landing with little margin for error.

After scooping up rock with a robot arm and placing the samples in a canister, Phobos-Grunt's return capsule was designed to depart the moon and target a landing back on Earth in August 2014 with nearly a half-pound of soil.

After sending its samples back to Earth, Phobos-Grunt's core spacecraft was supposed to remain on Phobos for a continued science mission for up to a year.
 

DanM

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I sure hope this mission makes it. It's one step closer to an actual Mars sample return.
 

Codz

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Well if it is a hardware problem they do have a manned Soyuz handy...
 

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Could they either 1) launch a manned Soyuz or 2) undock one from the ISS to go fix it, if the Soyuz could get into the right orbit?

Assuming they'd be willing to use up a Soyuz they'd still have to train the Cosmonauts for an entire new mission in under 3 days..
 

Codz

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Could they either 1) launch a manned Soyuz or 2) undock one from the ISS to go fix it, if the Soyuz could get into the right orbit?

In other words, it would be just about impossible.:lol:
 

DanM

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In other words, it would be just about impossible.:lol:
Not to mention using the Orbital Module as an airlock. I'm not sure if the current Soyuz is designed for that, or it there's enough room to don an Orlan suit or EMU in the capsule. I also wonder how much space the repair equipment would take up.
 
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Wishbone

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A "simple software glitch". Wonder WHO exactly wrote the software and how they tested it. And who in the State Commission signed this software off...

Another item: why on Earth use Darmstadt ESOC for mission control? This split setup is asking for failure since it is not always possible to concentrate brains in one place for emergency troubleshooting.
 

MaverickSawyer

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:hailprobe: WE HAVE DATA! :woohoo:
On a more serious note, that means the mission can still be salvaged?
 

SiberianTiger

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http://www.itar-tass.com/c1/268226.html

10:18 10/11/2011
First attempt to ignite Phobos-Grunt's engine may commence today


MOSCOW, November 10. /ITAR-TASS/. First attempt to start the main engine of Phobos-Grunt interplanetary probe has been postponed for one day. This decision was takes after a stressed day-long work, during which specialists have been analyzing all possible ways to put the probe into a Mars-bound escape trajectory. Initially, this manoeuvre was scheduled for the past evening.

"Most probably, the first attempt to ignite the main engine will be undertaken this evening", told a source in rocket & space industry to ITAR-TASS.
 

SiberianTiger

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Tonight's passes for Baikonur, given the requirement the probe must be at least 5 degrees higher the horizon. "Pass Dur" is duration of the pass in minutes and seconds.

Code:
Satellite passes / Orbitron 3.71 / www.stoff.pl

Location      : Baikonur NIP (63.3313° E, 45.9087° N)
Time zone     : UTC
Search period : 2011-11-10 07:26:59 - 3 days
                2011-11-13 07:26:59
Conditions    : Maximum sun elevation = None
                Minimum sat elevation = 5 deg
                Illumination NOT required

Time       UTC      MSK       Pass Dur.    Azm  Elv  Mag Range S.Azm S.Elv
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
2011-11-10 18:43:36 22:43:36               210.8  5.0  ecl  1201 337.4 -59.7
2011-11-10 18:46:04 22:46:04      5:02     143.0 23.2  ecl   510 338.5 -59.8
2011-11-10 18:48:38 22:48:38                76.0  5.0  ecl  1255 339.7 -60.0

2011-11-10 20:16:56  0:16:56 (11)          268.5  5.1  ecl  1233  22.4 -59.7
2011-11-10 20:19:34  0:19:34      5:24     342.3 30.3  ecl   433  23.6 -59.6
2011-11-10 20:22:20  0:22:20                55.6  5.1  ecl  1298  24.8 -59.4

2011-11-10 21:51:03  1:51:03               300.7  5.1  ecl  1282  57.1 -49.1
2011-11-10 21:53:34  1:53:34      5:09       2.4 17.9  ecl   688  57.9 -48.8
2011-11-10 21:56:12  1:56:12                63.0  5.0  ecl  1356  58.6 -48.4

2011-11-10 23:24:35  3:24:35               303.1  5.0  ecl  1334  79.4 -34.1
2011-11-10 23:27:30  3:27:30      6:01      20.7 38.6  ecl   404  80.0 -33.6
2011-11-10 23:30:36  3:30:36                98.2  5.1  ecl  1417  80.6 -33.0

2011-11-11 00:58:10  4:58:10               282.9  5.0  ecl  1385  96.6 -17.9
2011-11-11 01:01:00  5:01:00      5:50     217.0 23.2  ecl   633  97.1 -17.4
2011-11-11 01:04:00  5:04:00               151.3  5.0    ?  1466  97.6 -16.9
 

Codz

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It's like the Apollo 13 of probes...:hmm:
 

N_Molson

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Not to mention using the Orbital Module as an airlock. I'm not sure if the current Soyuz is designed for that, or it there's enough room to don an Orlan suit or EMU in the capsule.

I studied the question and the answer is a clear no. The Orlan backpack hatch makes this impossible, the EVA hatch clearance is to small. Only a Sokol suit could get through, but it is not designed for EVA ; it would inflate very much like Leonov's first EVA. Do any work under those conditions would be suicidal.
 

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Information which is coming, is contradictory. What's being said now, is very, very bad...

Anonymous at NK forum:
We had no telemetry last night. The only telemetry that made sense was at the first communications session even before the planned 1st burn time.

http://ria.ru/science/20111110/485398847.html

Still no luck with communicating to Phobos-Grunt

11:32 10/11/2011
MOSCOW Nov. 10 - RIA Novosti. Specialists still cannot establish communications with the automatic interplanetary probe Phobos-Grunt, which failed to eject onto Mars-baound trajectory yesterday and was stranded in low Earth's orbit. It's possible that the probe has lost its Sun-facing attitude, said a source in the industry.

"Last night, no commonucation with the spacecraft was established. Because we have no telemetry, we can assume everything, including loosing of Sun-facing attitude. Initially, it had such attitude and charging was under way, but later something happened. Possibly, it turned away from the Sun and discharged its batteries. And when batteries are emtry, this is the end." - said the person.

He has highlighted, that this is only one version of what's happening, because in absense of telemetry information "everything can be assumed".

"The most scary situation is when nothing is coming down from the spacecraft" - he added.

According to him, attempts to reestablish the communications will be continued.

"Some more time till its decay they will try to revive it".
 
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