Baikonur (Kazakhstan), Nov 9(ANI): A Russian Mars probe launched early Wednesday has failed to reach its intended orbit.
According to Xinhua, the abnormality occurred after the Phobos-Grunt probe separated from the Zenit-2SB carrier rocket, which was launched from the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan.
The spacecraft was supposed to use its own booster to reach the designated flying orbit, but failed to do so, the report added.
Russian space agency Roscosmos' General Director Vladimir Popovkin said that the mission control lost contact with the probe after the separation.
"Now we know its coordinates and we found out that the (probe's) engine failed to start," he said.
Phobos-Grunt was to become the first Russian interplanetary mission since the failed Mars 96.
It was also set to become the first spacecraft to return a macroscopic extraterrestrial sample from a planetary body since Luna 24 in 1976.
The spacecraft was expected to reach Mars' orbit in September 2012, with landing on Phobos, one of the moons of Mars, scheduled for February 2013.
The return vehicle, carrying up to 200g of soil from Phobos, was expected to be back on Earth in August 2014. (ANI)
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