Russia plans new Mars probe in 2018
February 2nd, 2012 - 10:01 am ICT by IANSMoscow, Feb 2 (IANS) Russia would make another attempt to send a Phobos-Grunt probe to Mars’ satellite in 2018, a leading space expert has said.
According to Lev Zeleny, director of the academy’s Institute of Space Research, the probe would be named Phobos-Grunt-2. The plan was initiated by the Russian Academy of Sciences, Xinhua reported.
Speaking at a press conference, Zeleny said 2018 was chosen because it would be the shortest distance between the Earth and Mars that year and that Russia’s domestic space industry would also see a dramatic improvement by then.
The second Phobos-Grunt would cost “a little more than 50 percent of previous costs,” as the infrastructure was already in place from when they built the first probe, said Zeleny.
As per specialists’ estimate the crashed Phobos-Grunt interplanetary station, which failed to reach orbit after a computer malfunction and crashed back to Earth last month, cost five billion rubles ($164 million).
The probe, carrying China’s Yinghuo-1 satellite, had been launched Nov 9, 2011. It crashed Jan 15, 2012.
On Tuesday, Vladimir Popovkin, the head of Russia’s space agency said Russia would send another sample mission to the Martian moon Phobos if the European Space Agency (ESA) decides not to include Russia in its ExoMars programme.
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- Russia's Mars spacecraft falls in Pacific Ocean - Jan 16, 2012
- Russia wants to join Mars mission - Oct 16, 2011
- Russian probe fails to set course to Mars - Nov 09, 2011
- Programme glitch led to Russian Mars probe failure: Report - Jan 31, 2012
- Russia fails to make contact with Mars moon probe - Nov 12, 2011
- US radar may have damaged Russian Mars probe: Daily - Jan 17, 2012
- China sets eyes on Mars - Mar 02, 2011
- Russia to send man to moon by 2030 - Apr 28, 2012
- Russia's Mars spacecraft to fall back to Earth - Jan 14, 2012
- Russian spacecraft to crash to Earth Jan 15 - Jan 13, 2012
- Russia denies 'systemic crisis' in space industry - Sep 07, 2012
- Russia's troubled Mars probe to hit earth - Jan 13, 2012
- "Earthlings" to visit Martian moon Phobos - Feb 26, 2009
- China's first Mars probe all set for October launch - Jun 09, 2009
Tags: academy of sciences, computer malfunction, domestic space, dramatic improvement, european space agency, feb 2, five billion, grunt, mars probe, martian moon phobos, moscow, orbit, rubles, russian academy of sciences, space expert, space industry, space research, vladimir, xinhua, zeleny