Chance of saving Mars-bound probe ‘slim’

AS Russia’s space agency struggled to fix a probe bound for a moon of Mars that instead got stuck in Earth’s orbit, some experts said the chances of saving the $170 million craft looked slim.

Roscosmos spokesman Alexei Kuznetsov said efforts to communicate with the unmanned Phobos-Grunt (Phobos-Ground) spacecraft hadn’t brought any results yet.

The probe will come crashing down to earth in a couple of weeks if engineers fail to fix the problem.

The Phobos-Grunt was launched on Wednesday and reached preliminary orbit, but its engines never fired to send it off to the Red Planet.

Kuznetsov said controllers will continue attempts to fix the probe’s engines to steer it to its path to one of Mars’ two moons, Phobos.

Roscosmos chief Vladimir Popovkin said the system that keeps the spacecraft pointed in the right direction may have failed. Other space experts suggested that the craft’s computer failure was a likely cause.

The spacecraft is 13.2 metric tons (14.6 tons), and most of that weight, about 11 metric tons (12 tons), is highly toxic fuel.

Most experts believe the fuel will likely stay liquid if the probe comes down and would harmlessly blow up about 80 kilometers above ground, but some fear it may freeze, survive the fiery re-entry and spill on impact.