ROSCOSMOS - Phobos-Grunt Mission poster.
11/08/2011
Launch of the ILV Zenit-2SB Rocket with AIS Phobos-Grunt
Launch Complex 45 area Baikonur starting calculations enterprise space industry in Russia and Ukraine made launching space rocket "Zenit-2SB," designed for launching into orbit of Russia's automatic interplanetary station (AIS) "Phobos-Grunt".
After 688 seconds of flight AMC cleanly separated from the second stage booster.
Lift-off occurred successfully at 00.16 GMT on 9 November 2011 from Baikonur Cosmodrome. The spacecraft is expected to reach Mars' orbit in September 2012, with landing on Phobos scheduled for February 2013.
Russia's automatic interplanetary station (AIS) "Phobos-Grunt" (Artist's view)
Phobos-Grunt (Russian: Фобос-Грунт, lit.«Phobos-Ground») 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, Phobos-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.
Phobos-Grunt Mission schematic description
The return vehicle, carrying up to 200 g of soil from Phobos, is expected to be back on Earth in August 2014.
For more informations about the Phobos-Grunt Mission, visit: http://www.federalspace.ru/main.php?id=375
Images, Video, Text, Credits: Press Service of the Russian Space Agency (Roscosmos PAO) / Roscosmos TV / Orbiter.ch Aerospace / Translation: Orbiter.ch.
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