ESA Abandons Effort To Contact Russia's Stranded Mars Probe

摘要

The European Space Agency (ESA) ended its efforts to make contact with Russia's Phobos-Grunt Mars spacecraft Dec. 2, surrendering to the realities of orbital mechanics, which have placed Mars orbit beyond the spacecraft's reach until a new opportunity arises two years from now.With its tracking antennas in Australia and Spain's Canary Islands needed for other duties, the 19-nation ESA informed the Russian space agency, Roscosmos, and Phobos-Grunt prime contractor NPO Lavochkin that Europe would stop actively trying to contact the stranded spacecraft but would remain available for support should Russian authorities establish contact.