Russia to Test if U.S. Radar Downed Phobos Probe

Russia to Test if U.S. Radar Downed Phobos Probe

en.ria.ru

A Russian government commission inquiring into why the Phobos-Grunt Mars probe crashed this week is to test whether it was affected after launch by U.S. radars on its second orbit around the Earth, the commission said on Tuesday.

The investigators said that they would stage an experiment where a model Phobos will be subjected to radiation similar to that from U.S. radars.

“The results of the experiment will allow us to prove or dismiss the possibility of the radars’ impact,” said Commission head Yury Koptev, the former head of the Russian space agency, Roscosmos.

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Russia still believes that the U.S. may have sabotaged their Phobos Grunt. I'm not sure what they're trying to accomplish by accusing the U.S. with sabotage of their recent launch failures.

If anything, they should wait until they have "proof" of this claim because this just makes Russia look like they're trying to pass the blame on their own failures. Don't get me wrong, I could see other nations sabotaging their competitor's space programs, but don't make these accusations unless you're able to back them up.

en.ria.ru
(visit the link for the full news article)

Didn't NASA's latest mission to Mars, launch the day after Phobos Grunt?

reply to post by TheDemonUK


I'm not exactly sure, but maybe this page can help tell us:

www.nasa.gov...

Considering NASA has put us into the position of being 100% and entirely dependent upon the Russian Space Program just to get to orbit and back, I suppose we have to humor them.

Heaven help us if some idiot did whammy their Mars probe with a blast of some kind of directed energy and Russia proves it. They might take it in terms of a national injury or something. Who knows how they'd react.

reply to post by Corruption Exposed

It was more likely an accident rather than a determined act of sabotage, the source told the Kommersant.

en.ria.ru...

Just to be clear, they're not accusing the US of sabotage. They believe a radar that was tracking a passing asteroid may have interfered with the probe's telemetry.

reply to post by DJW001


The Russians are accusing the Americans of affecting the launch via satellite interference. That qualifies as sabotage no?

reply to post by Corruption Exposed

I'm guessing dastardly deed vs. pure accident of tracking direction will depend 100% on what mood Vladimir Putin happens to be in the day the investigation is completed and what Obama last did to either please him or piss him off. The world seems to turn on things that petty anymore.

reply to post by Corruption Exposed

The Russians are accusing the Americans of affecting the launch via satellite interference. That qualifies as sabotage no?

No. Sabotage is an intentional act. They are exploring the possibility that a US radar may have accidentally interfered with the probe. Remember, there were American experiments on it.

reply to post by Wrabbit2000


I guess you're right. One day they have an official holding a press conference blaming the U.S, and now they still hint at sabotage but admit that it could be general interference. It seems like they want more proof before they make any wild claims like they made a couple weeks ago.

The US does'nt want anyone else to see what is on
phobos

reply to post by LeLeu


That thought did cross my mind.

I'm just not sure what would be up there that they want to be kept secret.

It could be anything but I'm not in liberty to speculate since I have no idea.

reply to post by Corruption Exposed

I guess you're right. One day they have an official holding a press conference blaming the U.S, and now they still hint at sabotage but admit that it could be general interference. It seems like they want more proof before they make any wild claims like they made a couple weeks ago.

Nowhere in the source you cite do they even hint that it might be sabotage. As usual, you are twisting other people's words to suit your agenda. Thank goodness you don't need more proof before making wild claims!

reply to post by DJW001

Nowhere in the source you cite do they even hint that it might be sabotage. As usual, you are twisting other people's words to suit your agenda. Thank goodness you don't need more proof before making wild claims!

Were you not aware of the other announcement from over a week ago?

I'm not twisting anyone's words DJ, you're just too lazy to read the rest of the thread.

Sloppy troll, shame on you

Russian Space Chief Claims Space Failures may be Sabotage

MOSCOW — Some recent Russian satellite failures may have been the result of sabotage by foreign forces, Russia's space chief said Tuesday, in comments apparently aimed at the United States.

You must be really embarrassed right now, this is almost as bad as that time you tried to blame the rings on Saturn to be some dude's arm hairs in the camera lens

I think the possibility of a sabotage is very likely. I wouldn't underestimate the Russians space efforts, don't forget that they were the first to go to space, and after all these decades they are on the leading front of space exploration next to the US. They have very knowledgable scientists and engineers, and after all those failed launches I am more than confident that someone else tampered with their efforts.

This story confuses me...

why would we sabotage their efforts when we've halted our own space endeavors?

I don't know much about this particular scenario- can someone give me a sound explanation as to why we'd do this?

If in fact our radars affected the probe, I'm inclined to think it was accidental.
Or that the Russians are just trying to blame others for what is really their shoddy handiwork?

reply to post by Clairaudience

I think the possibility of a sabotage is very likely.

Why? There was at least one American experiment on it.

Originally posted by DJW001

No. Sabotage is an intentional act. They are exploring the possibility that a US radar may have accidentally interfered with the probe. Remember, there were American experiments on it.

Well, the world is used to the US killing, maiming, and sabotaging "accidentally" by the scores. The Russians will be lenient with the US if it actually interfered. Get used to no more americans in space.

reply to post by ltinycdancerg


The cause of the failures could be anything from sabotage to sloppy engineering by the Russians. I believe there are many reasons why a competitor would want to sabotage a space program, mostly to stop the other country from gaining space superiority.

This doesn't mean that there is any sabotage happening, it's just that sabotaging a space program would make sense. It's not like the Soyuz ships are being sabotaged, which is the portion of the Russian space program the U.S. needs to function. They can give a # if the Russian Phobos probe is successful as it has no influence over American endeavors.

reply to post by Corruption Exposed

Russian Space Chief Claims Space Failures may be Sabotage

MOSCOW — Some recent Russian satellite failures may have been the result of sabotage by foreign forces, Russia's space chief said Tuesday, in comments apparently aimed at the United States.

You must be really embarrassed right now, this is almost as bad as that time you tried to blame the rings on Saturn to be some dude's arm hairs in the camera lens

The head of the Russian space agency trying to save his butt by reflexively making accusations is not the same thing as the Russian government accusing the United States of sabotage. Now when have I ever blamed the rings on Saturn on some dude's arm hairs? Sloppy troll.