Russia asks if US radar ruined craft
Source: Agencies |
January 18, 2012, Wednesday
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Print Edition
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RUSSIAN space experts will look into the possibility that a US radar station may have inadvertently interfered with the failed Mars moon probe that later plummeted to Earth, Russian media reported yesterday.
The state news agency RIA Novosti quoted Yury Koptev, former head of the Russian space agency Roscosmos, as saying investigators will conduct tests to check if US radar emissions could have impacted the Phobos-Ground space probe, which became stuck in Earth's obit for two months before crashing down.
"The results of the experiment will allow us to prove or dismiss the possibility of the radar's impact," said Koptev, head of the government commission charged with investigating causes of the probe's failure.
The current Roscosmos head, Vladimir Popovkin, previously said the craft's malfunction could have been caused by foreign interference. Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin acknowledged US radar interference as a possible cause but said it was too early to make any conclusions.
"This version has the right to exist," Rogozin said yesterday. "There is evidence indicating that frequent disruptions in the operation of our space technologies occur in that part of the flight path that is not visible to Roscosmos and is beyond its control."
Rogozin also suggested causes related to the spacecraft itself.
"Practically all disruptions are due to flaws in the technologies manufactured 12 to 13 years ago," he said.
The state news agency RIA Novosti quoted Yury Koptev, former head of the Russian space agency Roscosmos, as saying investigators will conduct tests to check if US radar emissions could have impacted the Phobos-Ground space probe, which became stuck in Earth's obit for two months before crashing down.
"The results of the experiment will allow us to prove or dismiss the possibility of the radar's impact," said Koptev, head of the government commission charged with investigating causes of the probe's failure.
The current Roscosmos head, Vladimir Popovkin, previously said the craft's malfunction could have been caused by foreign interference. Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin acknowledged US radar interference as a possible cause but said it was too early to make any conclusions.
"This version has the right to exist," Rogozin said yesterday. "There is evidence indicating that frequent disruptions in the operation of our space technologies occur in that part of the flight path that is not visible to Roscosmos and is beyond its control."
Rogozin also suggested causes related to the spacecraft itself.
"Practically all disruptions are due to flaws in the technologies manufactured 12 to 13 years ago," he said.
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