This is breaking news coming in from ESA’s ESTRACK station in Perth, Australia. They are receiving signals from the doomed Russian Mars Moon spacecraft, Phobos-Grunt.
More here: http://www.esa.int/esaCP/index.html
The Phobos-Grunt spacecraft
The First Radio Signals
The fist signals were received at about 20:25 UT on 22nd November, at the ESA tracking station (ESTRACK) in Perth, Australia. They claim to have established radio contact. We still have no idea how solid the contact line is or whether it will be possible to recover the craft.
This is the first time any station in the world has got any signals from the Russian craft, which has been stuck in orbit for a long time. Russian engineers have been working round the clock trying to recover the craft, either to bring it back home or to send it on its way to Mars’ moon Phobos.
The spacecraft was launched on 8th November and, after a wayward launch, has been hanging in orbit somewhere.
The ESA engineers are working closely with Russian ones to try and recover the craft. We’ll relay any important pieces of news or details we get as soon as they emerge.
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