Russia hints at U.S. radar role in Mars probe’s crash

Russian space officials are speculating that American radar may have zapped the failed Mars moon probe that fell into the ocean Sunday, a prominent Russian newspaper said Tuesday.

In Washington, NASA rejected the theory.

On Tuesday, the authoritative Kommersant newspaper, quoting an unnamed individual, said a commission investigating the failurewas considering whether the spacecraft was damaged by flying through powerful radar signals from a U.S. installation in the Marshall Islands that was alleged to be tracking an asteroid.

Read more: Washington Post

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Failed Russia Space Probe Crashes Off Chile Coast

The Russian space probe designed to boost the nation's pride on a bold mission to a moon of Mars has come down in flames, showering fragments into the south Pacific west of Chile's coast, officials said.

Pieces from the Phobos-Ground, which had become stuck in Earth's orbit, landed in water Sunday 1,250 kilometers (775 miles) west of Wellington Island in Chile's south, the Russian military Air and Space Defense Forces said in a statement carried by the country's news agencies.

Read more: Huffington Post 16 Jan

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Russia Space Probe To Crash On Earth Within Hours

A failed Russian probe designed to travel to a moon of Mars but stuck in Earth orbit will come crashing down within hours, likely in a shower of fragments that survive the fiery re-entry.

Russia's space agency Roscosmos said the Phobos-Ground will crash between 1750 and 1834 GMT (1:50 p.m. and 2:34 p.m. EST).

It said the probe could come down anywhere along its orbit that would place it over southern Europe, the Atlantic Ocean, South America and Pacific. The rest of the world, including the U.S. and Canada, is outside the risk zone.

Read more: Huffington Post / 15 Jan

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Russian satellite debris lands in Cosmonaut Street

[ via BBC Europe ] 24 Dec

Fragments of a Russian satellite that failed to launch properly have landed in a street named after cosmonauts in a remote Siberian village, reports say.

The Meridian communications satellite failed to reach orbit on Friday.

Parts crashed into the Novosibirsk region of central Siberia and were found in the Ordynsk district around 100km (60 miles) south of the regional capital, Novosibirsk.

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Soyuz launches sharp-eyed Pleiades satellite

[ via BBC Science and Environment ] 17 Dec

A Russian Soyuz rocket has launched from French Guiana - only the second such vehicle to fly out of the territory's new Sinnamary spaceport.

The Soyuz put six satellites in orbit, including France's new Pleiades-1 high-resolution imaging spacecraft.

This satellite is designed to take pictures that resolve features on the ground as small as 50cm across. The capability will put it on a par with the leading US commercial systems operated by GeoEye and DigitalGlobe.

Lift-off occurred on schedule at 23:03 local time, Friday (02:03 GMT, Saturday), with Pleiades-1 being dropped off in its 700km-high polar orbit some 55 minutes later.

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Europe ends search for Stranded Russian Mars Mission

[ BBC Science & Environment ] 2 Dec

Too bad for the stranded Russian Mars Mission Phobos-Grunt, as the European Space Agency announced on Friday that it was now ceasing any further attempts to get a signal.

The Russian craft has been stuck circling the Earth since its launch in early November. Apart from some brief radio contact with the wayward probe just over a week ago, there has been total silence from the spacecraft.

The Russian engineers have not lost hope and are still trying to recover the stranded spacecraft.

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