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Doomed Russian Satellite To Crash Either Today Or Tomorrow
Remember Phobos-Grunt? It got written about
as early as November last year when its dramatic launch from the
Baikonour-Cosmodrome was royally screwed by engine failure. It might
have made it to the stars but it has gone nowhere since. Ideally
Phobos-Grunt should have reached Mars by now and launched a rover, which
would give the Russian space program a lot of extra bragging rights.
Instead, the historic mission has become a black eye for the Russkies
and it’s likely they’re relieved Phobos-Grunt is going to crash
somewhere in the Indian Ocean. Oh wait, nope.
Make that in the Atlantic Ocean, with the Falkland Islands as a reference point. According to an official Russian news organ:
According to the data of the Russian Space Agency, the fragments of the collapsed Russian space station "Phobos-Grunt” will fall on the Earth on January 15 or 16.The
agency also specified the place where they will fall – 45° of the
southern latitude and 60° of the western longitude, to the north of the
Falkland Islands.
Expect breaking news on its demise
as soon as today or perhaps Monday. If it doesn’t then Phobos-Grunt
manages to frustrate itself to the very end. Well, like the saying goes,
if at first you don’t succeed try and try again. Then quit.
