As part of an effort to improve communication with the Russian Space Agency’s Phobos-Grunt spacecraft, modifications are being made to a 15-meter dish antenna at Maspalomas station. Located in the Canary Islands off the Atlantic coast of North Africa, the station provides tracking, telemetry, and other functions in support of the European Space Operations Centre (ESOC) of the European Space Agency (ESA). Last week, ESA succeeded in communicating with Phobos-Grunt on two successive days after a feedhorn antenna was added to an antenna near Perth, Australia similar to the facility in Maspalomas. Although this enabled the downloading of...

Russian specialists have deciphered telemetry data received from a wayward Mars probe, but have yet to find out the cause of its erratic behavior, a space industry source said on Thursday. “Some data” on the spacecraft’s condition were obtained, but it was not yet clear how “functional” it was, the source said.Earlier in the day, a Russian space station in Kazakhstan’s Baikonur received a signal from the Phobos-Grunt, which has been stuck at a low-Earth orbit since after its launch. The Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) said attempts to get in contact with the spacecraft would continue until it enters “the thicker layers of the...

The astronomical window for the Phobos-Grunt’s mission to Mars has just about closed, believe space industry sources. The probe could still fly by the red planet, but the expedition to land on and then return to Earth from the Martian moon Phobos is a failure. The window is closed, next chance – 2014 Soon the opportunity for the Phobos probe to reach Mars will be lost. For almost two weeks no discernable feedback has been obtained from the spacecraft or for that matter any positive developments in restoring control. Technically the Phobos probe can be classified as “alive” (since, judging by observations, it stays in...