. . .From the outset, the biggest hurdle before the Phobos-Grunt mission has been its brain.
The main computer of the spacecraft had to be responsible for a multitude of tasks and emergency situations beginning from launch: reaching Martian orbit and, ultimately, conducting a carefully orchestrated rendezvous with the tiny moon.
In turn, the approach to Phobos would culminate with a careful touchdown on the alien and almost weightless world.
With little gravity to pull the spacecraft in and no anchoring mechanisms, special thrusters would have to be used to "press" the spacecraft onto the surface.
PHOBOS MOON
• More than seven times the size of Mars' other moon Deimos
• Discovered by American astronomer Asaph Hall in 1877
• Dominated by the 2km-wide depression called Stickney Crater
• Surface covered in mysterious grooves and streaks
• Orbits closer than Deimos and will eventually crash into Mars
• Once thought to be a captured asteroid; origin now controversial
The landing would be followed by a series of complex moves by the probe's mechanical arms to pick samples of the moon's regolith and to load them into the return rocket.
A smaller flight control computer would then guide the return vehicle during a lift-off from Phobos, followed by manoeuvres in the orbit of Mars and finally by a trip back to Earth.
A brand-new flight control system originally proposed for Phobos-Grunt promised new capabilities.
However, Lavochkin's internal team responsible for its development fell behind schedule, making the 2009 launch window untenable.
And the team is not out of the woods yet: "We have some concerns… however we make everything possible to help the (flight control) team in their work," Mr Khartov explains. . .
