On January 15, Russian Phobos-Grunt (Phobos Soil) Mars probe that's being stuck in the Earth orbit for two months, finally has fallen into the southern areas of the Pacific Ocean.

      Some 30 pieces with a total weight of 200 kg fell some 1250 km west of Wellington island. The American forces have confirmed the fall.

      Phobos-Grunt, launched on November 9, was designed to bring back rock and soil samples from the Martian moon Phobos. However, shortly after its launching, the device has been stuck in a so-called support orbit, as its engines failed to put it on course for Mars.

      According to Russia’s Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos), all the spacecraft's 7.5 tons of fuel, which had been stored in aluminum tanks, was burnt in Earth's atmosphere. So there is no any danger to environment

      Phobos-Grunt was Russia's most ambitious planetary mission for almost fifteen years and surely one of the most expensive, costing around 5 billion rubles ($158,230,000)

      There are no official reasons why the station didn't reach its destination. Russia's officials have already started a special investigation.  

Sources: RIA Novosti Lenta.ru  Image: online47

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