Russia Says US May Be Behind Phobos-Grunt Probe Failure

Today, Russia pointed the finger at the U.S. regarding the failure of its Phobos-Grunt probe that was headed for Mars.

Russia thinks the probe may have failed due to radiation from U.S. radars.

“There is such a theory,” said Yury Koptev, head of the scientific committee of state technology company Russian Technologies.

“To test (the theory), an equipment block similar to the one on Phobos-Grunt will be exposed to radiation from the possible unintentional exposure to American radars,” said the former head of Russian space agency Roscosmos.

Roscosmos is currently investigating the possible causes of its latest setback after the ill-fated space probe crashed in the Pacific Ocean on Sunday.

Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said today that most of the agency’s mishaps were the result of the industry’s dark period of the 1990s, when poor funding may have led to production faults.

“If we confirm the fact of a foreign influence on our space equipment over the part of Earth we cannot see, we will come to different conclusions,” Rogozin said.

Roscosmos briefly mentioned the possibility of foreign interference last week when current chief Vladimir Popovkin asked why its failures often occurred when its spacecraft were over the U.S.

“I do not want to blame anyone, but today there are some very powerful countermeasures that can be used against spacecraft whose use we cannot exclude,” he said on January 10.

The Phobos-Grunt failure is just the latest in a string of setbacks for Russia.

Less than three months ago, an unmanned Progress supply ship bound for the International Space Station crashed into Siberia.

Russia also lost three navigation satellites, an advanced military satellite, and a telecommunications satellite in the past year.

Related articles

• Russia’s Phobos-Grunt Mars probe crashes into Pacific Ocean (mnn.com)
• 400lbs of Russia’s Failed Phobos-Grunt Mars Space Probe Could Fall To Earth (tracking2012.com)