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#320
by
savuporo
on 22 Nov, 2011 21:38
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Where are all the satellite servicing and refuelling providers when you need them ?
MDA?
Interesting that due to its mysteriously rising orbit it will not reenter until March now.
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#321
by
Thomas ESA
on 23 Nov, 2011 06:40
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BREAKTHROUGH. WE HAVE COMM!!!
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#322
by
Chris Bergin
on 23 Nov, 2011 06:43
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Wow!
Breaking: ESA's ESTRACK station in Perth, Australia, receives signal from Russia's Phobos-Grunt. @ESA
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#323
by
Thomas ESA
on 23 Nov, 2011 06:45
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Breaking news in ESA web shortly
http://www.esa.int I'm waiting too, I don't have details.
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#324
by
Chris Bergin
on 23 Nov, 2011 06:47
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>ESA tracking station receives signal from Russia's Phobos Mars mission
23-11-2011
On Tuesday, 22 November at 20:25 UT, ESA's tracking station at Perth, Australia, established contact with Russia's Phobos-Grunt spacecraft. This was the first signal received on Earth since the Mars mission was launched on 8 November. ESA teams are working closely with engineers in Russia to determine how best to maintain communications with the spacecraft. More news will follow later.<
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#325
by
sdsds
on 23 Nov, 2011 06:50
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Google translate (
http://bit.ly/s8ZL4R) says:
23/11/2011 11:31
MOSCOW, November 23 - RIA Novosti. European tracking stations first came in contact with the Russian station "Phobos-Grunt" , stuck in low Earth orbit, told RIA Novosti the head of the European Space Agency in Russia Rene Pishel.
"While we can say that one of the stations went on the link. But this is the beginning of the process, telemetry has not been obtained, and we work closely with our Russian colleagues," - said Pishel.
On Tuesday, managing directors of ESA reported that on Wednesday night European stations in South America, Australia and the Canary Islands, will make a final attempt to communicate with the station.
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#326
by
Chris Bergin
on 23 Nov, 2011 06:53
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Real eleventh hour stuff! Let's hope for a happy ending!
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#327
by
Khadgars
on 23 Nov, 2011 06:55
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Real eleventh hour stuff! Let's hope for a happy ending!
Wow, crazy!
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#328
by
Galactic Penguin SST
on 23 Nov, 2011 07:11
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Real eleventh hour stuff! Let's hope for a happy ending!
Given the Mars transfer window, this is more like a thirteenth hour hail Mary pass....
Re-match in 2013, anyone? (assume that the referee is not extending the stoppage time....)
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#329
by
Galactic Penguin SST
on 23 Nov, 2011 07:30
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From the information at NK, it seems that the telemetry downlink wasn't established yet. It's just that the ground station at Perth issued commands to P-G and it beeped. Regardless, given that the spacecraft hasn't responded since orbit 1, this is definitely good news! I wonder what has happened since then? (the contact was 12 hours ago)
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#330
by
MATTBLAK
on 23 Nov, 2011 07:34
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Bit of a layman's question, I know: but say they regained control of the spacecraft AFTER the Mars window closed - could it be sent to a Near(ish) Earth Asteroid and return samples from there? I'm aware that it might be sheer luck if any fitted the delta-vee requirements.
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#331
by
Galactic Penguin SST
on 23 Nov, 2011 07:43
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Bit of a layman's question, I know: but say they regained control of the spacecraft AFTER the Mars window closed - could it be sent to a Near(ish) Earth Asteroid and return samples from there? I'm aware that it might be sheer luck if any fitted the delta-vee requirements.
I believe some (Russian?) experts said something about that, but I would have thought boosting it to a storage HEO and wait for the next Mars transfer window in 2013 would be a better option... (fuel storage / engines shouldn't be an issue, as it was designed to make burns more than a year after launch in Mars orbit)
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#332
by
plutogno
on 23 Nov, 2011 07:45
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I guess a high Earth parking orbit or a resonant solar orbit getting back to Earth in time for the next launch window would be the best choice. At least F-G would perform the mission for which it was designed.
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#333
by
MATTBLAK
on 23 Nov, 2011 07:47
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Thanks guys! Interesting answers.
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#334
by
Svetoslav
on 23 Nov, 2011 07:50
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OK guys this is what we have from Ria Novosti:
The signal has been received during one of a total of four attempts to reach the probe. The signal was received when Phobos-Grunt was illuminated by the Sun.
This evening European and Russian specialists will continue working so they can establish a reliable communication with the spacecraft.
Roscosmos was also fast to officially confirm the good news:
http://roscosmos.ru/main.php?id=2&nid=18319
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#335
by
hop
on 23 Nov, 2011 08:04
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Very exciting news. Of course getting a signal is a long way from regaining control and resolving whatever triggered the problem in the first place. Hoping for the best!
I believe some (Russian?) experts said something about that, but I would have thought boosting it to a storage HEO and wait for the next Mars transfer window in 2013 would be a better option...
Another potential option would be to go the long way around, like
Nozomi. An advantage of this over sitting in Earth orbit is that you can recover a substantial amount of dV from earth flyby(s).
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#336
by
DavisSTS
on 23 Nov, 2011 08:34
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Great! So what happens next?
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#337
by
tonyq
on 23 Nov, 2011 08:34
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#338
by
uko
on 23 Nov, 2011 08:42
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Wow.. really great news!
Interesting that it happened exactly after the current Mars window shuld have closed (that is according to most news reports).
Exciting times!!!
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#339
by
Ben the Space Brit
on 23 Nov, 2011 09:06
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Not to be a wet blanked here, but let's put this in context:
1) The Mars window is closed so, unless the probe can survive in a high orbit until the next window opens, the mission is already a failure (irrespective of alternate missions that may be created);
2) The probe has only responded with a 'bleep'. A computer with a crashed hard-drive will do that too but it can't do anything useful. Let's wait until regular uplink/downlink and is established and useful data is transferred before cheering;
3) This very limited signal was received only on one out of four comm attempts - This may imply changing antenna positioning (axial roll) or possibly issues with the probe's hardware
4) The fact that the probe only responded whilst on Earth's dayside may indicate problems with the battery charger system.
I don't want to be overly negative but I hope this gives some indication of the challenges facing the team right now.
