Phobos-Grunt probe reentry scheduled for January 15

Phobos-Grunt probe reentry scheduled for January 15

The spokesman of Russia’s military space forces told Russian news agencies today that stranded Phobos-Grunt could fall to Earth on Jan. 15. About 30 fragments weighing up to 200 kilograms (440 pounds) are expected to fall to Earth. The $165-million Phobos-Grunt

No response from Russian Phobos-Grunt spacecraft

No response from Russian Phobos-Grunt spacecraft

The European Space Agency will once again attempt to call the Russian Phobos-Grunt spacecraft tonight (Nov. 29), after officials received no response yesterday. The probe has been stranded in the wrong orbit since it was launched on November 8.A ground station in

MSL/Curiosity looks like comet while traveling toward Mars

MSL/Curiosity looks like comet while traveling toward Mars

Astronomers at the Sir Thomas Brisbane Planetarium in Australia took incredible time-lapse video . The sequence shows a plume drifting against the background stars, probably caused by venting from the Centaur rocket stage that sent the Mars Science

Curiosity Rover launches to Mars

Curiosity Rover launches to Mars

NASA has launched its next Mars rover, kicking off a long-awaited mission to investigate whether the Red Planet could ever have hosted microbial life.The Curiosity rover blasted off atop its Atlas 5 rocket today (Nov. 26) at 10:02 a.m. EST (1502 GMT), streaking

Contact established with Phobos-Grunt spacecraft!

Contact established with Phobos-Grunt spacecraft!

A tracking station at Perth, Australia established contact with the Russian “lost” spacecraft Phobos-Grunt on November 22 at 20:25 UT. This was the first signal received on Earth since the mission to Mars’ Phobos moon was launched on November 8, 2011. Roscosmos

Phobos-Grunt and  Living Interplanetary Flight Experiment or “LIFE”

Phobos-Grunt and Living Interplanetary Flight Experiment or “LIFE”

Phobos-Grunt is the first Russian-led interplanetary mission since the failed Mars 96. The spacecraft is also carrying the Chinese Mars orbiter Yinghuo-1 and the tiny Living Interplanetary Flight Experiment funded by the Planetary Society.Lift-off occurred

Significant CME heading toward Mars

Significant CME heading toward Mars

A significant CME blasted off the sun today, Oct. 22nd, around 1100 UT. Analysts at the Goddard Space Weather Lab say the cloud is heading for Mars, due to hit the Red Planet on Oct. 26th.  (movie, forecast track)While looking at the latest STEREO Ahead images,

SkyWatchers: Great Morning Planet Show!

SkyWatchers: Great Morning Planet Show!

The Great Morning Planet Show of May 2011 is underway. Every morning for the rest of this month, you can see a beautiful gathering of four planets in the eastern sky. They are Mars, Jupiter, Venus and Mercury, shown here on May 1st over Magnetic Island in east