Monday, 28 November 2011

Footage of a Fobos-Grunt pass



The footage above was shot by me this evening, and shows the Russian space probe Fobos-Grunt (aka Phobos-Grunt or Phobos-Soil), 2011-065A.

Fobos-Grunt was supposed to go to the Martian moon Phobos for a sample return mission. Instead it got stuck in a Low Earth Orbit, due to a rocket engine malfunction. It is now expected to re-enter into the earth atmosphere early to mid  January.

This footage was shot from my girlfriend's appartment at the second floor of our appartment building: only there was I able to point low enough in the sky. The footage shows the space-probe at an elevation of less than 15 degrees over the western horizon. It enters earth shadow at the end of the 50 second clip.

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