Russia blames Phobos-Grunt failure on cosmic radiation
Posted: Wed, Feb 1, 2012, 7:15 AM ET (1215 GMT)
A Russian commission concluded that cosmic radiation may have damaged electronics on the Phobos-Grunt spacecraft, including possibly counterfeit microchips, causing the mission to fail. The commission said that two components of the spacecraft's onboard computer "spontaneously rebooted" after the spacecraft entered a temporary parking orbit, and went into a standby mode. That prevented the spacecraft from firing thrusters to leave Earth orbit and head to Mars; the spacecraft was stranded in a decaying orbit and reentered in January. Russian officials said that counterfeit imported microelectronics, not hardened to withstand the space radiation environment, may have contributed to the failure. Although Russian officials previously claimed that interference from a US radar may have led to the spacecraft's failure, the commission ruled out any "external or foreign influence" on the spacecraft. Some Russian experts are skeptical about the commission's conclusions, arguing that it ignores internal problems with the Russian space program.
A Russian commission concluded that cosmic radiation may have damaged electronics on the Phobos-Grunt spacecraft, including possibly counterfeit microchips, causing the mission to fail. The commission said that two components of the spacecraft's onboard computer "spontaneously rebooted" after the spacecraft entered a temporary parking orbit, and went into a standby mode. That prevented the spacecraft from firing thrusters to leave Earth orbit and head to Mars; the spacecraft was stranded in a decaying orbit and reentered in January. Russian officials said that counterfeit imported microelectronics, not hardened to withstand the space radiation environment, may have contributed to the failure. Although Russian officials previously claimed that interference from a US radar may have led to the spacecraft's failure, the commission ruled out any "external or foreign influence" on the spacecraft. Some Russian experts are skeptical about the commission's conclusions, arguing that it ignores internal problems with the Russian space program.
Related Links:
| <<previous article | next article>> |
|
news in brief
|
|
|
|
news links
|
|
Saturday, March 14
Canada Takes Its Sovereignty Push to Space
New York Times — 9:58 am ET (1358 GMT) Eutelsat - termination of capacity contracts on Express AT1 and AT2 satellites
Eutelsat — 9:57 am ET (1357 GMT) USSPACECOM commander highlights U.S.-India space cooperation during Indo-Pacific visit
US Space Command — 9:57 am ET (1357 GMT) Firefly Aerospace: Successful Launch Validates Alpha, But The Real Test Is Cadence
SeekingAlpha — 9:56 am ET (1356 GMT) Confidential settlement for scuttled Starlink deal means Ontarians kept in dark on payout
Canadian Press — 9:53 am ET (1353 GMT) |
