Decrypt data from Russian spacecraft

Russian experts successfully decoded the data from the Martian exploration ship yesterday, but they did not understand what happened to it.

On November 23, a Russian space station in Kazakhstan obtained the signal of the Phobos Grunt.

An unnamed official told RIA Novosti that Russian experts decrypted some of the data they took from the Phobos Grunt. Data show that the ship is still operating, but experts do not know the status of the ship's control system.

Russian engineers observed the Phobos Grunt on November 2. (Photo: EPA)

The Russian Federal Space Agency (Roskomos) announced that it will continue to contact the ship until it falls into the earth's atmosphere. Many experts predict that Phobos Grunt will fall in March if not saved.

Previously the European Space Agency (ESA) also obtained data from Russian ships, but experts could not decipher that data.

Phobos Grunt spacecraft was launched on November 8 to carry out a mission to sample soil and rock on Mars's Phobos satellite. After the ship separated from the rocket on Earth's orbit, its two engines did not start so it could not fly towards Mars. In the past days Phobos Grunt flew around the globe and the experts predicted it would fall to earth with 12 tons of fuel if not saved.

Experts say that if the Phobos Grunt ship is rescued, it will no longer have a chance to fly to Mars's Phobos satellite. But data from the ship will help the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roskomos) find the cause of the incident to avoid similar failures in the future.

Alexander Zakharov, a senior expert at the Russian Space Research Institute, said data from Phobos Grunt also helped scientists know if they could reuse the ship. According to Zakharov, if the ship still works well, in the future it can be used to study meteorites near the earth.