What could be the most ambitious Mars mission in history could be doomed to failure within 24 hours thanks to a faulty rocket thruster that was designed to propel the Russian Phobos-Grunt probe to the Red Planet. Now, two weeks after a rocket stage failed to activate, Phobos-Grunt finds itself stuck in Earth's orbit, with potentially no way out, no way to make a controlled re-entry, and not much time left, either.
Right now, the main problem with saving Phobos-Grunt is trying to reach the satellite in the first place. After the failed launch, mission control has lost all contact with the space probe, which was originally intended for the Martian moon, Phobos. Needless to say, for anything to be done about the planetary probe turned satellite, communication must be restored so that mission control can send new commands and, with luck, get the crucial rocket booster to fire, albeit belatedly. Unfortunately, the window for launching to Phobos will close tomorrow, which means it's now or never when it comes to sending the probe to its intended location.
However, should the Phobos window close, there could be other, interesting possibilities. First up: the Moon.
Just for Fun, ask anyone which countries have gone to the Moon. Unless your friend is a bit of a space historian, the answer will be something to the effect of 'only the United States.' Wrong. The Russians went to the Moon, albeit with robots, during the same time that Apollo astronauts were walking the Lunar surface. Serving as Russian ambassadors to the Moon were the Lunokhod Rovers as well as another mission, Luna 16, that could be termed 'Luna-Grunt,' which landed on the Moon's surface before returning samples to the Earth. Unfortunately, the lander was not designed for bodies with large gravitational forces like the Moon, which would mean no touchdown. Still, there are other experiments that could be done from lunar obit.
Another possibility: an asteroid. In a way, this might as well be going to Phobos (which is, more than likely, an asteroid captured by the Martian gravity). If a suitable asteroid is found, and if there is enough fuel left in Phobos-Grunt, a full landing could be attempted, with the lander touching down on an asteroid, doing its experiments, and then returning to Earth with a small sample of its surface.
However, while these 'consolation' prizes are nice, the desired outcome of this mission would be a successful Phobos landing with samples being returned after the completion of the mission.
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