Phobos-Grunt

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Phobos-Grunt (rus. Фобос-Грунт) is a planned Russian sample return mission to Phobos, one of the moons of Mars. It will be the first Russian interplanetary mission since the failed Mars 96 mission. In August 2006, China announced that they would supply the survey equipment for the mission.[1] Anatoly Perminov, head of the Russian Space Agency said in September 2006 that they are planning to sign a contract with China by the end of the year.[2].

Its name is derived from two simple characteristics of the mission. "Grunt" in this context means 'soil' (a sample of which will hopefully be returned to Earth) while "Phobos" is obviously the mission's destination. Phobos-Grunt will also study Mars and its environment, including atmosphere and dust storms, plasma and radiation. Development started in 2001 and the preliminary design was completed in 2004. After that, the selection of scientific instruments will take place. Electric jet propulsion is considered for this mission. Phobos-Grunt is scheduled to be launched in 2009 on a Soyuz launcher.

Contents

[edit] Mission objectives and studies

  • Collect soil samples from Phobos and return them to Earth for scientifc research on Phobos, Mars, and Martian space.
  • 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, to include its radiation environment and plasma and dust

[edit] See also

 v • d • e 
Mars Spacecraft Missions
Flybys: Mariner 4 | Mariner 6 | Mariner 7 | Mars 4
Orbiters: Mariner 9 | Mars 2 | Mars 3 | Mars 5 | Mars 6 | Viking 1 | Viking 2 | Phobos 2 | Mars Global Surveyor | Mars Odyssey | Mars Express Orbiter | Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter
Landers and Rovers: Mars 3 | Viking 1 | Viking 2 | Mars Pathfinder | Spirit rover | Opportunity rover
Future: Phoenix Scout (2007) | Mars Science Laboratory (2009) | Phobos-Grunt (2009) | Mars 2011 | ExoMars (2013) | Astrobiology Field Laboratory (2016?)
See also: Mars | Exploration of Mars | Colonization of Mars


[edit] External links

[edit] References

  1. ^ China and Russia to launch joint mission to Mars. physorg.com (August 23, 2006). Retrieved on September 11, 2006.
  2. ^ Russia, China could sign Moon exploration pact in 2006 (September 11, 2006). Retrieved on September 12, 2006.
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