Mars Travel: Yinghuo-1

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NASA Prohibited from Helping Phobos-Grunt?

EDIT: DEBUNKED! I got a response back from NASA. Check it out here!

Disturbing reports have emerged that NASA has been forbidden from assisting Russia with Phobos-Grunt because of a US law that prohibits assistance to China's space program. Phobos-Grunt is carrying Yinghuo-1, China's first attempt at placing an orbiter around Mars.

Russian Space Web reports that there is a US law which is prohibiting NASA from assisting Russia and the ESA in the recovery of Phobos-Grunt. This law seems to state that because Yinghuo-1 is onboard they cannot provide assistance.

Mars Travel has contacted NASA and is waiting for them to substantiate or refute these claims.

If true this would contradict what Doug McCuistion, director of NASA's Mars Exploration Program, was quoted as saying during a news briefing three weeks ago:

We have offered assistance and if they need it we will provide it to the best of our ability. That's a different organization from ours. I am not sure if they have asked for such assistance, but we have offered it.

When Russian Space Web reported that the NASA was prohibited from helping Phobos-Grunt many people, including myself called NASA to determine the validity of these claims. We are still waiting on a response.

I'll have more as the story breaks!

Background on Yinghuo-1

Yinghuo-1 would be China's first foray to Mars. It would separate from the larger Russian probe in October 2012 (or maybe later now) and begin a year-long orbit of Mars. Its primary purpose is to collect data about the Martian atmosphere. On board it has a plasma package, a fluxgate magnetometer, a radio occultation sounder, and an optical imaging system. It also has two solar arrays to collect energy.

Contact Made with Phobos-Grunt - Mission May Proceed

ESA Tracking station in Perth, Australia
Image Credit: ESA

On Tuesday (Nov 22 2011) at 20:25 UT a tracking station based in Perth, Australia made contact with Phobos-Grunt. This was the first signal received on Earth from the spacecraft since it launched on November 8 2011. [Phobos-Grunt, Yinghuo-1, and LIFE Remain in Earth's Orbit]

Teams from the European Space Agency (ESA) that made the original contact are in discussions with Russian engineers to determine the best method for maintaining contact with Phobos-Grunt. According to Ria Novosti five attempts will be made to get telemetry from the spacecraft on Thursday. Each attempt will last for approximately 6-7 minutes.

If contact is made could the mission continue as planned?

While Ria Novosti and others report that the window to continue the mission passed on November 21 2011, some people like Dr. David Warmflash, lead investigator for the LIFE experiment on board the Phobos-Grunt spacecraft, says the mission could go on if Phobos-Grunt leaves Earth's orbit anytime well into December.

Why is this?

Current missions to Mars must fall within a specified launch window when travel between Earth and Mars is most optimal. Launch windows are calculated by determining a spacecrafts propulsion capabilities and the alignment of the concerned celestial bodies. Launch windows to get from Earth to Mars (or Mars to Earth) are around once every 26 months.

Phobos-Grunt could still make it to Mars within this launch window, but the issue is that by the time it collected samples from Phobos it would have missed the launch window for the trip back to Earth. That means that samples could not be returned until 2016, 26 months later than planned.

The two ride-along missions would still be fulfilled.

Yinghuo-1 would be China's first foray to Mars. It would separate from the larger Russian probe in October 2012 (or maybe later now) and begin a year-long orbit of Mars. Its primary purpose is to collect data about the Martian atmosphere. On board it has a plasma package, a fluxgate magnetometer, a radio occultation sounder, and an optical imaging system. It also has two solar arrays to collect energy.

The Living Interplanetary Flight Experiment (LIFE), created by the Planetary Society is an astrobiological experiment containing ten types of organisms. It is an international venture, with cooperation from the Russian Space Research Institute, the Institute of Biomedical Problems of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Moscow State University, the American Type Culture Collection, and the Institute of Aerospace Medicine, Germany. The mission is to see what types of organisms can survive the harsh conditions of space travel. Please see the LIFE page for more information on their missions.

The two ride along missions would essentially be unaffected by an extended stay on Mars. Yinghuo-1 is only set to remain in orbit for a year regardless and the purpose of the LIFE is to determine whether life can survive the harsh conditions of deep space for an extended period of time, so prolonging the time would likely only help to the experiment.

It remains to be seen whether commands can be sent to Phobos-Grunt, but for now there is renewed hope that the mission can go on.

For the latest information on the Phobos-Grunt mission I highly recommend following Dr. David Warmflash, (@CosmicEvolution) on Twitter.

Phobos-Grunt, Yinghuo-1 and LIFE Remain in Earth's Orbit

The engines aboard Phobos-Grunt, which is also carrying Yinghuo-1 and the Living Interplanetary Flight Experiment (LIFE), failed to fire after separation with the larger booster. The Zenit-2 launch vehicle detached from the Phobos-Grunt on time and correctly, but the engine for the spacecraft itself failed to start.

The Zenit-2 rocket launching Phobos-Grunt
CREDIT: German Aerospace Center (DLR)

Russia has been unable to make contact with Phobos-Grunt, despite several attempts and opportunities to do so. According to Vladimir Popovkin, head of Russia’s space agency Roscosmos, engineers have until November 23 to restart the probe's booster before it runs out of batteries.

Popovkin claims that this scenario is one that was prepared for and that can be remedied from the ground. He goes on to say, “We will attempt to reboot the program. The spacecraft is currently on a support orbit, the fuel tanks have not been jettisoned, and the fuel has not been spent.” There is still hope for Phobos-Grunt, and thus hope for the other two missions riding along with it.

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Live Stream of Phobos-Grunt and Yinghuo-1 Launch

See the live stream of the joint Phobos-Grunt and Yinghuo-1 launch to the Martian Moon Phobos and Mars, respectively.

spaceflightnow on livestream.com. Broadcast Live Free

China's First Mars Probe Set for October Launch

China's first Mars probe is on course to launch in October of this year. Yinghuo-1 (萤火一号) is a joint operation with Russia and will search for the causes behind the disappearance of water on Mars.

There is substantial evidence that water was once abundant on Mars (see below), but the precise reason for its disappearance has until now only been speculation.

Evidence of Water in Ravi Vallis

Areas where evidence for water is found
in the form of outflow channels

Outflow channels, like this one seen in Ares Vallis are seen
as evidence that water once flowed on the Martian surface.

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