Emily LakdawallaSep 21, 2009

No more rumors: It's now fact that Phobos-Grunt will be delayed to 2011

Today, the Russian space agency, Roscosmos, officially announced a delay from 2009 (next month!) to 2011 of the launch of their Phobos sample return mission, Phobos-Grunt. This is a move that has long been anticipated, but until today the official word was that they were going forward to the 2009 launch. The mission will eventually carry to Mars a Chinese orbiter, Yinghuo-1, not to mention an experiment provided by The Planetary Society, the Living Interplanetary Flight Experiment (LIFE). There is more detail on the delay announcement in a LIFE project update by Bruce Betts here.

Model of the Phobos-Grunt spacecraft

Paolo Ulivi

Model of the Phobos-Grunt spacecraft
Displayed at the 2007 Paris Air Show at Le Bourget.

Cosmic Shores Gala

The Planetary Society's Board of Directors cordially invites you to its 45th anniversary celebration at our Cosmic Shores Gala aboard the iconic Queen Mary in Long Beach, California. Please RSVP and purchase tickets to attend.

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