MOSCOW, Sunday
THE Soviet spacecraft Phobos was thrust into orbit around Mars today,
the climax of a multinational mission to prepare for a manned flight to
the planet.
Tass news agency said a brake engine was started on schedule at 1255
GMT and the craft, launched on July 12, began to orbit the planet. It
said two tracking stations were following its progress.
Nikolai Ivanov, one of the programme's directors, told Tass that the
craft would eventually shift its course towards one of the planet's
moons, Phobos, after which the project was named.
It said the craft would eventually lower itself 30 miles to come
within 50 yards of the moon's surface and a special module would
actually land on Phobos.
''For 25 minutes, the equipment aboard the station will be able to
carry out radio location and a television parorama survey of Phobos,''
Tass quoted him as saying. It would take about a month before the craft
could land on the surface of the moon.
The Soviet Union, in cooperation with 13 countries, launched two
Phobos craft within five days last July to investigate the nature of
Mars but contact with one of them was lost last September.
Under the original plan, both probes had been due to enter Mars orbit
and spend three months studying the planet's surface and atmosphere.
They were then due to head for one of the Martian moons, Phobos, for
which the project was named.
One probe was due to anchor itself to the moon's surface while the
other hopped about collecting soil data. All the information would be
relayed back to earth.
Tass did not make clear what form the project would now take after the
loss of one of the craft.
Soviet officials hoped to use the flight as an initial step towards a
manned Mars flight early in the next century and have sought US
agreement for a joint mission.
Tass said it was hoped the Phobos project would help to unravel the
mysteries of Mars by studying its temperature ranges and soil
composition.
It said low temperatures and the absence of photosynthesis made it
improbable that any form of life would be found.--Reuter.
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