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Fobos-Grunt

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Fobos-Grunt (Russian: Фобос-Грунт, lit. "Phobos-Soil") is a sample return mission to Phobos, one of the moons of Mars. Funded by the Russian space agency Roscosmos, and developed by NPO Lavochkin and the Russian Space Research Institute, Fobos-Grunt is to become the first Russian interplanetary mission since the failed Mars 96. It is also set to become the first spacecraft to return a macroscopic extraterrestrial sample from a planetary body since Luna 24 in 1976.[1]

Lift-off occurred successfully at 20:16 GMT on 8 November 2011 from Baikonur Cosmodrome, but the spacecraft failed to depart Earth orbit shortly afterwards.[2] If it can be rescued, the spacecraft is scheduled to reach Mars' orbit in September 2012 and land on Phobos in February 2013. The return vehicle, carrying up to 200 g of soil from Phobos, is expected to be back on Earth in August 2014.

The Chinese Mars orbiter Yinghuo-1 was sent together with the mission, along with the Living Interplanetary Flight Experiment funded by the Planetary Society.[3]

Project history

Development

See also: Space industry of Russia
Image of Phobos. The Fobos-Grunt project began with the feasibility study of a Phobos sample-return mission in 1999

The Fobos-Grunt project began in 1999, when the Russian Space Research Institute and NPO Lavochkin, the main developer of Soviet and Russian interplanetary probes, initiated the study of feasibility of a Phobos sample-return mission. An initial 9 million roubles was invested into the project at this time. The initial spacecraft design was to be similar to the probes of the Phobos program launched in the late 1980s.[4] Development of the spacecraft started in 2001 and the preliminary design was completed in 2004.[5] For years, the project stalled as a result of low levels of financing of the Russian space program. This changed in the summer of 2005, when the new government plan for space activities in 2006–2015 was published. Fobos-Grunt was now made one of the program's flagship missions. With substantially improved funding, the launch date was set for October 2009. The 2004 design was revised a couple of times and international partners were invited to join the project.[4] In June 2006, NPO Lavochkin announced that it began manufacturing and testing the development version of the spacecraft's onboard equipment.[6]

On 26 March 2007, Russia and China signed a cooperative agreement on the joint exploration of Mars, which included sending China's first interplanetary probe Yinghuo-1 to Mars together with the Fobos-Grunt spacecraft.[7]

2009 launch date

The October 2009 launch date could not be achieved due to delays in the spacecraft development. During 2009, officials admitted that the schedule was very tight, but still hoped until the last moment that a launch could be made.[8] On 21 September the mission was officially announced to be delayed until the next launch window in 2011.[9][10][11][12] The main reason for the delay was difficulties encountered during development of the spacecraft's onboard computers. While the Moscow-based company Tehkhom provided the computer hardware on time, the internal NPO Lavochkin team responsible for integration and software development fell behind schedule.[13] The retirement of NPO Lavochkin's head Valeriy N. Poletskiy in January 2010 was widely seen as linked to the delay of Fobos-Grunt. Viktor Khartov was appointed the new head of the company. During the extra development time resulting from the delay, a Polish-built drill was added to the Phobos lander as a back-up soil extraction device.[14]

Launch

The spacecraft arrived at Baikonur on 17 October 2011 and was transported to Site 31 for pre-launch processing.[15] The Zenit-2SB41 rocket carrying Fobos-Grunt successfully lifted off from Baikonur Cosmodrome at 20:16 GMT on 8 November 2011.[16] The Zenit booster inserted the spacecraft into an initial 207 km × 347 km (129 mi × 216 mi) elliptical based orbit with the inclination 51.4 degrees.[17]

Two firings of the main propulsion unit in Earth orbit are required to send the spacecraft onto the interplanetary trajectory. Since both engine ignitions will take place outside the range of Russian ground stations, the project participants asked volunteers around the world to take optical observations of the burns, e.g. with telescopes, and timely report the results to enable more accurate prediction of the mission flight path upon entry into the range of Russian ground stations.[18]

Post-launch

After 2.5 hours and 1.7 revolutions in the initial orbit, the autonomous main propulsion unit (MDU), derived from the Fregat upper stage, was expected to conduct its firing to insert the spacecraft into the elliptical orbit (250 km x 4150-4170 km) with a period of about 2.2 hours, however following the planned end of the burn the spacecraft could not be located in the target orbit. The spacecraft was subsequently discovered to still be in its initial parking orbit,[2] and it was determined that the burn had not taken place.[19] After the completion of the first burn, the external fuel tank of the propulsion unit was expected to be jettisoned, with ignition for a second burn to depart Earth orbit scheduled for one orbit, or 2.1 hours, after the end of the first burn.[17][20][21]

According to Vladimir Popovkin, the head of Russia's space agency Roscosmos, engineers have up to two weeks starting from 9 November to restart the probe before its batteries run out.[22] In its un-departed state, the 13.2 metric ton spacecraft poses a re-entry risk.[23] On board is 7 metric tonnes of hydrazine and nitrogen tetroxide.[23]

The propulsion module constitutes the cruise-stage bus of Fobos-Grunt. According to original plans, Mars orbit arrival has been expected during September 2012.

The return vehicle was scheduled to reach Earth in August 2014.[24][25]

Purpose

A model of Fobos-Grunt presented during Cebit 2011

Fobos-Grunt is an interplanetary probe that includes a lander to study Phobos and a sample return vehicle to return a soil sample (about 200 g (7.1 oz))[26] to Earth. It will also study Mars from orbit, including its atmosphere and dust storms, plasma and radiation.

Science goals

  • Delivery of samples of Phobos soil to Earth for scientific research of Phobos, Mars and Martian vicinity;
  • In situ and remote studies of Phobos (to include analysis of soil samples);
  • Monitoring the atmospheric behavior of Mars, including the dynamics of dust storms;
  • Studies of the vicinity of Mars, including its radiation environment, plasma and dust;[24]
  • Study of the origin of the Martian satellites and their relation to Mars;
  • Study of the role played by asteroid impacts in the formation of terrestrial planets;
  • Search for possible past or present life (biosignatures);[27]
  • Study the impact of a three year interplanetary round-trip journey to extremophile microorganisms in a small sealed capsule (LIFE experiment).[28]

Mission description

Journey

The spacecraft's journey to Mars is scheduled to take about ten months. After arriving in Mars orbit, the main propulsion unit (MDU) and the transfer truss will separate and the Chinese Mars orbiter will be released. Phobos-Grunt will then spend several months studying the planet and its moons from orbit, before landing on Phobos. The current timeline is for arrival in Mars orbit in October 2012 and landing on Phobos in February 2013.[25]

The landing site that has been chosen is a region from 5°S to 5°N, 230° to 235°E.[29]

On Phobos

Phobos

The soil sample collection will begin immediately after the lander has touched down on Phobos. Normal collection will last 2–7 days. An emergency mode exists for the case of communications breakdown, which enables the lander to automatically launch the return rocket to deliver the samples to Earth.[30]

A robotic arm will collect the samples, which can be up to 0.5 inches (1.3 cm) in diameter. At the end of the arm, there is a pipe-shaped tool which splits to form a claw. The tool contains a piston which will push the sample into a cylindrical container. A light-sensitive photo-diode will confirm whether material collection was successful and will also allow visual inspection of the digging area. The sample extraction device should perform 15 to 20 scoops yielding a total of 3 to 5.5 ounces (85 to 156 g) of soil.[30] The samples are loaded into a capsule which is then moved inside a special pipeline into the descent module by inflating an elastic bag within the pipe with gas.[5][31] Because the characteristics of Phobos soil are uncertain, the lander includes another soil-extraction device, a Polish-built drill, which will be used in case the soil turns out to be too rocky for the main scooping device.[1][14]

The return stage is mounted on top of the lander. It will need to accelerate to 35 km/h (22 mph) to escape Phobos' gravity. In order to avoid harming the experiments remaining at the lander, the return stage will only ignite its engine once the vehicle has been vaulted to a safe height by springs. It will then begin maneuvers for the eventual trip to Earth, where it is expected to arrive in August 2014.[30]

After the departure of the return stage, the lander's experiments will continue in situ on Phobos' surface for a year. To conserve power, mission control will turn these on and off in a precise sequence. The robotic arm will place more samples in a chamber that will heat it and analyze its spectra. This analysis might determine the presence of volatile compounds, such as water.[30]

Sample return to Earth

The return stage with soil samples from Phobos is scheduled to be back near Earth in August 2014. An 11-kg[32] descent vehicle containing the capsule with soil samples (up to 0.2 kg (0.44 lb)) will be released on direct approach to Earth at 12 km/s (7.5 mi/s). Following the aerodynamic braking to 30 m/s (98 ft/s) the conical-shaped descent vehicle will perform a hard landing without a parachute within the Sary Shagan test range in Kazakhstan.[31] The vehicle does not have any radio equipment.[1] Ground-based radar and optical observations will be used to track the vehicle's return.[33]

Equipment

Spacecraft instruments

  • TV system for navigation and guidance[34]
  • Gas-Chromatograph package:[32]
    • Thermal Differential Analyzer
    • Gas-Chromatograph
    • Mass-Spectrometer
  • Gamma ray spectrometer[35]
  • Neutron spectrometer[35]
  • Alpha X spectrometer[35]
  • Seismometer[35]
  • Long-wave radar[35]
  • Visual and near-infrared spectrometer[35]
  • Dust counter[35]
  • Ion spectrometer[35]
  • Optical solar sensor[36]

Ground control

The Mission Control Center was located at the Center for Deep Space Communications (Национальный центр управления и испытаний космических средств Template:Ref-ru, Євпаторійський центр дальнього космічного зв'язку Template:Ref-uk) equipped with RT-70 radio telescope near Yevpatoria in the Crimea, Ukraine.[37] Russia and Ukraine agreed in late October 2010 that the European Space Operations Centre in Darmstadt, Germany, would control the probe.[38]

Development

Mockup of the spacecraft cruise-stage bus that will carry the lander to Phobos

Main participants

The main contractor of the project is NPO Lavochkin, which is responsible for the space mission component development. Chief Designer of Phobos Grunt at Lavochkin is Maksim Martynov.[39] Phobos soil sampling and downloading were developed by the GEOHI RAN Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Vernadski Institute of Geochemistry and Analytical chemistry) and the integrated scientific studies of Phobos and Mars by remote and contact methods are responsibility of the Russian Space Research Institute,[24] where the lead scientist of the mission is Alexander Zakharov.[40]

Budget

The cost of the spacecraft is 1.5 billion rubles ($64.4 million).[5] Project funding for the timeframe 2009–2012, including post-launch operations is about 2.4 billion rubles.[11] Total cost of the mission is 5 billion rubles ($163 million). In comparison, the more ambitious NASA/ESA joint Mars sample return mission is expected to cost around $8.5 billion.[41]

Revival of interplanetary missions

Fobos-Grunt is the first Russian interplanetary mission since Mars 96, which suffered a launch failure. The last Russian or Soviet interplanetary mission that was successfully launched was the second probe of the Phobos program in 1988.[40] Fobos-Grunt is the first sample return mission to the natural satellite of another planet conducted by mankind.[42] If successful, Fobos-Grunt could pave way to a number of Russian interplanetary missions, including missions to the moons of Jupiter, Saturn and Uranus, and asteroid and comet sample return missions.[43]

The Russian Federal Space Agency has said 90% of Phobos Grunt is made of new and untested elements. The new instruments are being tested and will be tested during the flight.[38] According to lead scientist Alexander Zakharov, the entire spacecraft and most of the instruments are new, although they do draw on the heritance of the three successful Luna sample-return missions of the 1970s.[41] Zakharov has described the Phobos sample return project as "very difficult", possibly "the most difficult interplanetary one to date."[40]

Partners

The Chinese Mars probe Yinghuo-1 will be sent together with Fobos-Grunt.[44] In late 2012, after a 10-11.5 month cruise, Yinghuo-1 will separate and enter a 800×80,000 km equatorial orbit (5° inclination) with a period of three days. The spacecraft is expected to remain on Martian orbit for one year. Yinghuo-1 will focus mainly on the study of the external environment of Mars. Space center researchers will use photographs and data to study the magnetic field of Mars and the interaction between ionospheres, escape particles and solar wind.[45]

A second Chinese payload, the Soil Offloading and Preparation System (SOPSYS), is to be integrated into the instruments of the lander. SOPSYS is a microgravity grinding tool developed by the Hong Kong Polytechnic University.[46][47]

Another payload on Fobos-Grunt is an experiment from the Planetary Society called Living Interplanetary Flight Experiment, or LIFE, which will send 10 types of microorganisms and a natural soil colony of microbes on the three-year round trip. The results may fuel the debate about whether meteorite-riding organisms can spread life throughout the solar system.[8][48]

Two MetNet Mars landers, developed by the Finnish Meteorological Institute, were planned to be included as a payload to the Fobos-Grunt mission.[49][50] Due to delays in MetNet development, the landers were not ready for the previous launch date of Fobos-Grunt, 2009. For the 2011 launch window, which is not as suitable as the 2009 one, weight constraints on the Fobos-Grunt spacecraft required dropping the MetNet landers from the mission.[11]

The Bulgarian Academy of Sciences has also installed its own radiation measurement experiment on Fobos-Grunt.[51]

Criticism

Barry E. DiGregorio, the director of the International Committee Against Mars Sample Return, criticised the LIFE experiment carried by Fobos-Grunt as a violation of the Outer Space Treaty due to the possibility of contamination of Phobos or Mars with the microbial spores and live bacteria it contains.

While Fobos-Grunt lands on and returns from Phobos, it might lose control and crash land on Mars.[52] It is speculated that the heat-resistant extremophile bacteria would survive such a crash, on the basis that Microbispora bacteria survived the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster.[53]

However, according to Fobos-Grunt Chief Designer Maksim Martynov, the probability of the probe accidentally reaching the surface of Mars is much lower than the maximum specified for Category III missions, the type assigned to Fobos-Grunt and defined in COSPAR's planetary protection policy (in accordance with Article IX of the Outer Space Treaty).[31][54]

Professional wrestler Barry Windham has also criticised the mission, calling it "dumb".

References

  1. ^ a b c "Daring Russian Sample Return mission to Martian Moon Phobos aims for November Liftoff". Universe Today. 2011-10-13.
  2. ^ a b Molczan, Ted (9 November 2011). "Phobos-Grunt - serious problem reported". SeeSat-L. Retrieved 9 November 2011.
  3. ^ "Russians launch Mars moon probe".
  4. ^ a b Harvey, Brian (2007). "Resurgent - the new projects". The Rebirth of the Russian Space Program (1st ed.). Germany: Springer. pp. 326–330. ISBN 9780387713540.
  5. ^ a b c Zaitsev, Yury (14 July 2008). "Russia to study Martian moons once again". RIA Novosti.
  6. ^ "Russia to test unmanned lander for Mars moon mission". RIA Novosti. 2010-09-09.
  7. ^ "China to launch probe to Mars with Russian help in 2009". RIA Novosti. 2008-12-05.
  8. ^ a b Zak, Anatoly (2008-09-01). "Mission Possible - A new probe to a Martian moon may win back respect for Russia's unmanned space program". AirSpaceMag.com. Retrieved 2009-05-26.
  9. ^ "Fobos-Grunt probe launch is postponed to 2011" (in Russian). RIA Novosti. 2009-09-21. Retrieved 2009-09-21.
  10. ^ "Russia delays Mars probe launch until 2011: report". Space Daily. 16 September 2009.
  11. ^ a b c Zak, Anatoly. "Preparing for flight". Russianspaceweb.com. Retrieved 2009-05-26.
  12. ^ Zak, Anatoly (2009-04). "Russia to Delay Martian Moon Mission". IEEE Spectrum. Retrieved 2009-05-26. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  13. ^ "Industry Insiders Foresaw Delay of Russia's Phobos-Grunt". Space News. 2009-10-05.
  14. ^ a b "Difficult rebirth for Russian space science". BBC News. 2010-06-29.
  15. ^ Phobos-Grunt arrives to Baikonur
  16. ^ . RIA Novosti. 2011-11-09 http://en.rian.ru/science/20111109/168527324.html. {{cite news}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  17. ^ a b Mission profile Phobos-Soil project
  18. ^ We need your support in the project "Phobos-Soil", because Phobos-soil project
  19. ^ "Маршевая двигательная установка станции "Фобос-Грунт" не сработала" (in Russian). RIA Novosti. 9 November 2011. Retrieved 9 November 2011.
  20. ^ "Phobos-Grunt to be launched to Mars on Nov 8". Interfax News. 4 October 2011. Retrieved 5 October 2011.
  21. ^ "Fobos-Grunt space probe is moved to a refueling station". Roscosmos. October 21, 2011. Retrieved 2011-10-21.Template:Ref-ru
  22. ^ "Russia has two weeks to put Mars probe back on track". 9 November 2011.
  23. ^ a b Vladimir Ischenkov - Russian scientists struggle to save Mars moon probe (November 9, 2011) - Associated Press
  24. ^ a b c "Phobos-Grunt". European Space Agency. October 25, 2004. Retrieved 2009-05-26.
  25. ^ a b "Timeline for the Phobos Sample Return Mission (Phobos Grunt)". Planetary Society. October 27, 2010. Retrieved 2010-10-28.
  26. ^ Fobos-Grunt sent to Baikonur Template:Ref-ru
  27. ^ Korablev, O. "Russian programme for deep space exploration" (PDF). Space Research Institute (IKI). p. 14.
  28. ^ "Living Interplanetary Flight Experiment (LIFE)". The Planetary Society.
  29. ^ "Phobos Flyby Images: Proposed Landing Sites for the Forthcoming Phobos-Grunt Mission". Science Daily. 15 March 2010. Archived from the original on 7 November 2011. Retrieved 7 November 2011.
  30. ^ a b c d Zak. "Mission Possible".
  31. ^ a b c "Russia resumes missions to outer space: what is after Phobos?".Template:Ref-ru
  32. ^ a b Phobos Soil - Spacecraft European Space Agency
  33. ^ The mission scenario of the Phobos-Grunt project Anatoly Zak
  34. ^ "Optico-electronic Instruments for the Phobos-Grunt Mission". Space Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 2009-07-20.
  35. ^ a b c d e f g h Harvey, Brian (2007). "Resurgent - the new projects". The Rebirth of the Russian Space Program (1st ed.). Germany: Springer. ISBN 9780387713540.
  36. ^ "Optical Solar Sensor". Space Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 2009-07-20.
  37. ^ Russian spacecraft for Fobos-Grunt program to be controlled from Yevpatoria, Kyiv Post (June 25, 2010)
  38. ^ a b "Russia's Phobos Grunt to head for Mars on November 9". Itar Tass. 25 October 2011. Retrieved 27 October 2011.
  39. ^ Biography of Maksim MartynovTemplate:Ref-ru
  40. ^ a b c "Mars Moon Lander to Return Russia to Deep Space". The Moscow Times. 08 Nov 2011. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  41. ^ a b "Russia takes aim at Phobos". Nature. 2011-11-04.
  42. ^ LIVE: Zenit-2 set to launch Fobos-Grunt sample return mission to Phobos Nasaspaceflight
  43. ^ Zak, Anatoly (April 15, 2008). "Russian space program: a decade review (2000–2010)". Russian Space Web.
  44. ^ Bergin, Chris (May 21, 2007). "With a Russian hitch-hike, China heading to Mars". NASAspaceflight.
  45. ^ "China and Russia join hands to explore Mars". People's Daily Online. May 30, 2007. Retrieved May 31, 2007.
  46. ^ Zhao, Huanxin (27 March 2007). "Chinese satellite to orbit Mars in 2009". China Daily.
  47. ^ "HK triumphs with out of this world invention". HK Trader. 1 May 2007.
  48. ^ "LIFE Experiment: Phobos". The Planetary Society.
  49. ^ "MetNet Mars Precursor Mission". Finnish Meteorological Institute.
  50. ^ "Space technology – a forerunner in Finnish-Russian high-tech cooperation". Energy & Enviro Finland. 17 October 2007.
  51. ^ "Проект "Люлин-Фобос" - "Радиационно сондиране по трасето Земя-Марс в рамките на проекта "Фобос-грунт"". Международен проект по програмата за академичен обмен между ИКСИ-БАН и ИМПБ при АН на Русия - (2011-2015)". Bulgarian Academy of Sciences.
  52. ^ DiGregorio, Barry E. (2010-12-28). "Don't send bugs to Mars". New Scientist. Retrieved 8 January 2011.
  53. ^ McLean, R; Welsh, A; Casasanto, V (2006). "Microbial survival in space shuttle crash". Icarus. 181 (1): 323–325. doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2005.12.002. PMC 3144675. PMID 21804644.
  54. ^ "COSPAR Planetary Protection Policy".

Further reading

  • M. Ya. Marov, V. S. Avduevsky, E. L. Akim, T. M. Eneev, R. S. Kremnevich, S. D. Kulikovich, K. M. Pichkhadzec, G. A. Popov, G. N. Rogovshyc (2004). "Phobos-Grunt: Russian sample return mission". Advances in Space Research. 33 (12): 2276–2280. Bibcode:2004AdSpR..33.2276M. doi:10.1016/S0273-1177(03)00515-5.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  • Galimov, E. M. (2010). "Phobos sample return mission: Scientific substantiation". Solar System Research. 44: 5. doi:10.1134/S0038094610010028.
  • Zelenyi, L. M.; Zakharov, A. V. (2010). "Phobos-Grunt project: Devices for scientific studies". Solar System Research. 44 (5): 359. doi:10.1134/S0038094610050011.
  • Rodionov, D. S.; Klingelhoefer, G.; Evlanov, E. N.; Blumers, M.; Bernhardt, B.; Gironés, J.; Maul, J.; Fleischer, I.; Prilutskii, O. F. (2010). "The miniaturized Möessbauer spectrometer MIMOS II for the Phobos-Grunt mission". Solar System Research. 44 (5): 362. doi:10.1134/S0038094610050023.

External links

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