ESA stops searching for Phobos-Grunt

The European Aeronautics Agency (ESA) has decided to stop contacting Russia's Phobos-Grunt spacecraft. Previously, Phobos-Grunt had problems and had lost contact with Earth while performing missions to explore Mars.

Phobos Grunt spacecraft is about 230 - 274km from the ground - (Photo: BBC News)

According to the BBC , ESA decided to stop all efforts to contact Phobos Grunt because they now have exhausted technical options. But they are willing to support Russian colleagues if there is any sign of hope to save the ship.

Currently, Russian science engineers continue to search for a solution to save the ship. It is known that the height of Phobos-Grunt is decreasing and falling if it is not treated promptly.

Remember on November 22 and 23, 2011, an ESA antenna collecting space signals in Perth, Australia and Russian antennas at Baikonur Cosmodrome caught the signal of the Phobos-Grunt. But now, the ESA antenna does not receive any signal.

Before that, after separating from the rocket on Earth's orbit, instead of Phobos-Grunt will fly to Hoa star, it will only fly around the Earth with altitudes ranging from 200 - 340km. According to experts, it will fall back to Earth with 12 tons of fuel if the problem is not resolved promptly.