PHOBOS-GRUNT

PHOBOS-GRUNT is no longer on orbit
PHOBOS-GRUNT is classified as:

Space & Earth Science

NORAD ID: 37872

Int'l Code: 2011-065A

Launch date: November 8, 2011
Source: Commonwealth of Independent States (former USSR) (CIS)
Launch site: TYURATAM MISSILE AND SPACE COMPLEX (TTMTR)
Decay date: 2012-01-15

FOBOS-GRUNT 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, Fobos-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. Lift-off occurred successfully at 20:16 GMT on 8 November 2011 from Baikonur Cosmodrome, but the spacecraft failed to depart Earth orbit shortly afterwards. If it can be rescued, the spacecraft is scheduled to reach Mars' orbit in September 2012 and land on Phobos in February 2013. The return vehicle, carrying up to 200 g of soil from Phobos, is expected to be back on Earth in August 2014.