We won't be long from the schedule for the second burn, which will take it into heliocentric orbit?
Quote from: russianhalo117 on 11/09/2011 12:32 amQuote from: Moe Grills on 11/09/2011 12:26 amQuoteThanks! It sounds like they may be able keep this mission alive if they can get the flight computer back? If that's even possible? It's parking orbit will certainly keep it up there for a few more days, but not much more. And the Russians do have better computers and software than they had in 1996. But there is the problem of Solar orientation for the F-G solar panels.And even if it has reliable power and is perhaps in a safe mode,and if the Russians were able to reestablish communication with ithow would they know how much mass the orbiting-assembly has now (something separated & drifted off the craft)? They can't just fire up the rocket motors on that orbiting craft without knowing all the details and expect a successful TMI.raw TM indicates no evidence of first burn taking place at all. And the planned 16 minute burn programmed to occur within 1/2 an hour from now would NOT be sufficient to achieve escape velocity for the craft. I think they will send software commands to scrub that burn for today.
Quote from: Moe Grills on 11/09/2011 12:26 amQuoteThanks! It sounds like they may be able keep this mission alive if they can get the flight computer back? If that's even possible? It's parking orbit will certainly keep it up there for a few more days, but not much more. And the Russians do have better computers and software than they had in 1996. But there is the problem of Solar orientation for the F-G solar panels.And even if it has reliable power and is perhaps in a safe mode,and if the Russians were able to reestablish communication with ithow would they know how much mass the orbiting-assembly has now (something separated & drifted off the craft)? They can't just fire up the rocket motors on that orbiting craft without knowing all the details and expect a successful TMI.raw TM indicates no evidence of first burn taking place at all.
QuoteThanks! It sounds like they may be able keep this mission alive if they can get the flight computer back? If that's even possible? It's parking orbit will certainly keep it up there for a few more days, but not much more. And the Russians do have better computers and software than they had in 1996. But there is the problem of Solar orientation for the F-G solar panels.And even if it has reliable power and is perhaps in a safe mode,and if the Russians were able to reestablish communication with ithow would they know how much mass the orbiting-assembly has now (something separated & drifted off the craft)? They can't just fire up the rocket motors on that orbiting craft without knowing all the details and expect a successful TMI.
Thanks! It sounds like they may be able keep this mission alive if they can get the flight computer back? If that's even possible?
Anyone have any info on electrical power available?
Quote from: Rocket Science on 11/09/2011 12:52 amAnyone have any info on electrical power available?DSN won't be able to gain any data until next pass if Roscosmos sends requests for additional tracking. DSN was contracted for covering the first two burns plus TMI. Thats all we can do now except track it. Since the burns did not occur, they would have to declare an international mission contingency with a request for all available antennas per international space laws. Then we can help them.
Found a tweet of a guy who lives at 23 46 S / 53 18 W (about 85 miles north of my position)he says: HA!! Vi daqui de casa a sonda Phobos-Grunt e os foguetes dela entrando em ignição!! Foi muito da hora ver a luz dela ficando mais forte!!Translation is something like this: HA!!! I saw from my home the Phobos-Grunt and it's rockets ignigting. It was so cool to see it's light getting stronger!And another tweet in english: I'm from Brazil, and i saw two diferents objects moving on predicted orbit. I thought it was the remains of the rocket. OMG!!!The guy twitter account is @hevertonfreitas
we might still be able to go to the moon and bring back some fresh samples
Quote from: russianhalo117 on 11/09/2011 01:08 amwe might still be able to go to the moon and bring back some fresh samplesLanding on Phobos is a lot different then landing on the Moon. Fobos-Grunt probably lacks the capacity to land on the Moon.
You might be right but it would prevent space junk if you put it on a free-return trajectory.
Can they verify that it was traveling with inclination of 54.1 deg. towards equator?
Quote from: russianhalo117 on 11/09/2011 01:18 amYou might be right but it would prevent space junk if you put it on a free-return trajectory.If you can send it on a free-return trajectory, couldn't you just re-enter it directly?
At long last - Russia finally admits abnormal situation - two sentences on Ria Novosti... http://ria.ru/science/20111109/484401134.htmlAs Anatoly Zak points out on russianspaceweb.com - technical problems weren't the only abnormal thing that happened during launch...
Roscosmos and NASA are both probably hoping that programming is not the issue. NASA JPL supplied the auxiliary flight control computer, at the request of the prime contractor with approval from Roscosmos, to increase chances of mission success. Both are turned on for launch through TMI with JPL computer taking over after last orbit correction burn to perform Mars System insertion. JPL computer is then turned off until Phobos launch of Sample return SC back to Earth.
Quote from: Svetoslav on 11/09/2011 01:26 amAt long last - Russia finally admits abnormal situation - two sentences on Ria Novosti... http://ria.ru/science/20111109/484401134.htmlAs Anatoly Zak points out on russianspaceweb.com - technical problems weren't the only abnormal thing that happened during launch... But what happens now is the question. This isn't a full on failure yet, as far as we know.
