The Gray Man Writes

Twenty-five years ago today — July 12, 1988 — the Soviets launched the second of two Mars orbiters atop a Proton K rocket out of the Baikonur Cosmodrome.

(Artist’s conception of Phobos. NASA image from Wikimedia Commons.)

Phobos 2 followed close on the heels of Phobos 1, which was launched a few days earlier but eventually lost power and did not reach Mars. Phobos 2, however, reached the Red Planet and operated in Martian orbit for several weeks.

Phobos 2 operated nominally throughout its cruise and Mars orbital insertion phases, gathering data on the Sun, interplanetary medium, Mars, and Phobos. Shortly before the final phase of the mission, during which the spacecraft was to approach within 50 m of Phobos’ surface and release two landers, one a mobile `hopper’, the other a stationary platform, contact with Phobos 2 was lost. The mission ended when the spacecraft signal failed to be successfully reacquired on 27 March 1989. The cause of the failure was determined to be a malfunction of the on-board computer.

The controversy surrounding the loss of Phobos 2 is that some UFO enthusiasts have conjectured that Phobos 2 did not simply fail, but was attacked by an alien spacecraft. I won’t provide links here, but if you search online you’re sure to find sites describing the incident — including images of what is supposed to be the attacking ship or the weapon itself.

I’m not sure why the Phobos mission would warrant such interference when so many subsequent missions have succeeded without incident; maybe the aliens left the scene, or are just very selective in what space probes they choose to destroy.

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Ten years ago today — July 8, 2003 — the “Opportunity” rover launched from Cape Canaveral on a Delta II rocket.

(Opportunity rover. NASA image.)

Following about a month behind the “Spirit” rover, launched on June 10th, and known officially as Mars Explorer Rover-B, Opportunity was bound for the Meridiani Planum on Mars. The rover landed on January 25, 2004, to begin what was supposed to be a 90-sol (90 Martian days, very nearly 90 Earth days) mission.

Opportunity is still working today.

While contact with Spirit was lost in March 2010, Opportunity has continued to operate on the Martian surface: a tremendous tribute to the scientists and engineers who designed it, the technicians who built it, and the operators who direct it and keep its software updated. Long may it roll.

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Twenty-five years ago today — July 7, 1988 — the Soviet Union launched a Proton-K from the Baikonur Cosmodrome carrying the Phobos 1 spacecraft.

(Phobos 1. Image from the National Space Science Data Center.)

Phobos 1, launched just a few days before its twin Phobos 2, was built to study the composition of its namesake Martian moon, and also to study the Martian atmosphere and surface by remote sensing from orbit. It also carried instruments to study the Sun and the interplanetary space environment.

The spacecraft operated well until an attitude system failure — caused by faulty software — oriented Phobos 1 away from the Sun and prevented its solar arrays from recharging its batteries. The failure occurred sometime between August 30 and September 2, 1988,* and as a result Phobos 1 never reached Mars.

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*As of the posting date, the NSSDC page records this failure as happening in 1989; however, other sources (e.g., this page) give the date as 1988, when the spacecraft was on the way to Mars.

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Fifteen years ago today — July 3, 1998 — Japan launched an M-5 rocket from the Kagoshima Space Center carrying the Nozomi spacecraft on its way to the Red Planet.

(Nozomi. Image from the National Space Science Data Center.)

Nozomi (meaning “Hope”) was originally known as “Planet B,” and was Japan’s first space probe sent to orbit Mars. It carried instruments to study the Martian atmosphere, but unfortunately a propulsion system malfunction during its swing by Earth on December 20, 1998, ultimately prevented the spacecraft from entering orbit.

To try to save the mission, operators developed a contingency plan by which Nozomi would

remain in heliocentric orbit for an additional four years, including two Earth flybys in December 2002 and June 2003, and encounter Mars at a slower relative velocity in December 2003.

However, another snag occurred in April 2002, as Nozomi was approaching another Earth flyby, when

powerful solar flares damaged the spacecraft’s onboard communications and power systems. An electrical short was caused in a power cell used to control the attitude control heating system which allowed the hydrazine fuel to freeze. The fuel thawed out as the craft approached Earth and maneuvers to put the craft on the correct trajectory for its Earth flyby were successful.

Operators guided Nozomi through the next Earth flyby in June 2003, but as the spacecraft approached Mars in December, it could not be put in the correct orientation to fire its main thruster for orbital insertion. As a result, Nozomi flew by Mars on December 14, 2003.

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