Seite in DeutschSpacecraft Phobos-Grunt in Earth orbit
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Launch on Novemer 08, 2011
The russian spacecraft Phobos-Grunt (Fobos-Grunt) was successfully launched on November 08, 2011 at 20:16 UT in Baikonur. The spacecraft reached low Earth orbit as expected and should be sent to Mars from there later. But the Fregat upper stage did not ignite and so the spacecraft was orbiting the Earth since this failure. At the moment the reason of this failure is unknown.
The spacecraft was not designed for low orbit communication. So for a long time any communication try was unsuccessful. On November 22, 2011 an ESA ground station in Perth, Australia could contact the spacecraft for the first time but only for few minutes during the fly over. It was told that a russian ground station in Baikonur could also contact the spacecraft on November 24, 2011. But it was impossible to get the reason for the failure from the radio transmission data. To send commands to the spacecraft was also unsuccessful.
If the situation would not change, Phobos-Grunt would reenter in the atmosphere within the first weeks of 2012 and would be destroid. The spacecraft had a mass of 13.200 kg and more than 11.000 kg of this was rocket fuel. So the spacecraft would not only burn up during reenter. It is most likely that it would also explode. And because the launch window for this mission to Mars had closed on November 21, 2011 a spacecraft recovery later would not have saved this mission.
Video records on Novemer 27, 2011
On November 27, 2011 I could record the spacecraft Phobos-Grunt on video with GPS time insertion during a relative near fly over in Nonndorf. The minimum distance to the spacecraft was about 237 kilometers. No fast light changes were visible. So it can be assumed that the spacecraft was in a stable flight orientation without fast rotation.
Phobos-Grunt reentry on January 15, 2012
ESA reported that the russian spacecraft Phobos-Grunt (Fobos-Grunt) made a reentry in Earths atmosphere over the southern Pacific Ocean on January 15, 2012 at 17:46 UTC. The reentry and burn up occured at coordinates 46° South, 87° West and 80 kilometers above the sea. This is a position about 900 kilometers west of the coast of southern Chile.
Fly over and video records on Novemer 27, 2011
PHOBOS-GRUNT 1 37872U 11065A 11333.74090390 .00167608 11514-4 15787-3 0 753 2 37872 51.4269 248.9047 0074448 123.4486 326.7815 16.05620610 3355 Epoche der Elemente: 29.11.2011 17:46:54.1 UTC 335 Umläufe (seit 08.11.2011) Bahnneigung 51.4269 Grad Exzentrizität 0.0074448 R.A.A.N 248.9047 Grad Perigäum 209.2 km Perigäumslänge 123.4486 Grad Apogäum 308.0 km Mittlere Anomalie 326.7815 Grad Mittelwert 258.6 km Knotendrehung 56.3 Tage -5.406066 °/Tag Perigäumsdrehung 88.0 Tage 4.091706 °/Tag anomalistische Umlaufzeit 89.6849 Minuten drakonitische Umlaufzeit 89.6215 Minuten ndot/2 0.00167608 Änderung der Umlaufzeit -0.018720 Minuten/Tag Sinkgeschwindigkeit 923.6 Meter/Tag
| Phobos-Grunt flight path over Europe on November 27, 2011 viewed in STSPLUS |
 Map view |
| Phobos-Grunt flight path over Europe on November 27, 2011 viewed in STSPLUS |
 Globe view |
| Phobos-Grunt rising on western sky on November 27, 2011 |
 WAT-902H2 Ultimate, 25fps, Fl=7.7mm, f=1.2, GPS Garmin 18x LVC + KIWI-OSD, FOV 48x36° |
| Click here or on the image starts the video (MPEG4 - 6.52MB) |
| Phobos-Grunt moving on the northern sky on November 27, 2011 |
 WAT-902H2 Ultimate, 25fps, Fl=7.7mm, f=1.2, GPS Garmin 18x LVC + KIWI-OSD, FOV 48x36° |
| Click here or on the image starts the video (MPEG4 - 6.02MB) |
Reentry on January 15, 2012 at about 17:45 UTC
PHOBOS-GRUNT 1 37872U 11065A 12015.38974209 .05034823 12795-4 41823-4 0 3170 2 37872 051.4131 351.8689 0013326 307.2654 052.7779 16.51150762 10918 Epoche der Elemente: 15.01.2012 9:21:13.7 UTC 1091 Umläufe (seit 10.11.2011) Bahnneigung 051.4131 Grad Exzentrizität 0.0013326 R.A.A.N 351.8689 Grad Perigäum 127.3 km Perigäumslänge 307.2654 Grad Apogäum 144.7 km Mittlere Anomalie 052.7779 Grad Mittelwert 136.0 km Knotendrehung 53.3 Tage -5.771689 °/Tag Perigäumsdrehung 82.3 Tage 4.372550 °/Tag anomalistische Umlaufzeit 87.2119 Minuten drakonitische Umlaufzeit 87.1478 Minuten ndot/2 0.05034823 Änderung der Umlaufzeit -0.528643 Minuten/Tag Sinkgeschwindigkeit 26352.0 Meter/Tag
| Phobos-Grunt reentry area west of Chile on January 15, 2012 viewed in STSPLUS |
 Map view |
| Phobos-Grunt reentry area west of Chile on January 15, 2012 viewed in STSPLUS |
 Globe view |
January 25, 2012 |
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