Fobos-Grunt
Model of Fobos-Grunt spacecraft at the 2011 Paris Air Show | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Names | Phobos-Grunt Фобос-Грунт Phobos-Ground | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Mission type | Phobos lander Sample return | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Operator | Roscosmos | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| COSPAR ID | 2011-065A | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| SATCAT no. | 37872 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mission duration | 3 years (planned) Failed in Earth orbit | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Spacecraft properties | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Manufacturer | Lavochkin, Russian Space Research Institute | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Launch mass | 13,505 kg (29,773 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Dry mass | 2,300 kg (5,100 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Power | 1 kW (main orbiter/lander) + 300 W (Earth return vehicle) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Start of mission | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Launch date | 8 November 2011, 20:16:02 UTC | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rocket | Zenit-2SB41 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Launch site | Baikonur Cosmodrome, Site 45/1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Contractor | Yuzhmash | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Entered service | Failed on orbit | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| End of mission | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Last contact | 24 November 2011 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Decay date | 15 January 2012, 17:46 UTC | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Orbital parameters | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Reference system | Geocentric orbit | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Regime | Low Earth orbit | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Perigee altitude | 207 km (129 mi) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Apogee altitude | 342 km (213 mi) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Inclination | 51.43° | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Period | 90.0 minutes | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Russian Mars programme | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Fobos-Grunt or Phobos-Grunt (Russian: Фобос-Грунт, lit. 'Phobos-surface') was an attempted Russian sample return mission to Phobos, one of the moons of Mars. Fobos-Grunt also carried the Chinese Mars orbiter Yinghuo-1 and the tiny Living Interplanetary Flight Experiment funded by the Planetary Society.
It was launched on 8 November 2011, at 20:16 UTC, from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, but subsequent rocket burns intended to set the craft on a course for Mars failed, leaving it stranded in low Earth orbit. Efforts to reactivate the craft were unsuccessful, and it fell back to Earth in an uncontrolled re-entry on 15 January 2012, over the Pacific Ocean, west of Chile. The return vehicle was to have returned to Earth in August 2014, carrying up to 200 g (7.1 oz) of soil from Phobos.
Funded by the Russian Federal Space Agency and developed by Lavochkin and the Russian Space Research Institute, Fobos-Grunt was the first Russian-led interplanetary mission since the failed Mars 96. The last successful interplanetary missions were the Soviet Vega 2 in 1985–1986, and the partially successful Phobos 2 in 1988–1989. Fobos-Grunt was designed to become the first spacecraft to return a macroscopic sample from an extraterrestrial body since Luna 24 in 1976.