Phobos Flop?

Russia's first Mars mission since 1996 may be doomed after the upper stage of its booster rocket failed to ignite, leaving the craft in Earth orbit. The mission, Phobos-Grunt, was launched November 8 (shown here). It is scheduled to land on the Martian moon Phobos and gather a bit of soil for return to Earth. Flight controllers are trying to solve the problem, but have only a few days before the craft's batteries fail. This is the second Russian Mars mission since the fall of the Soviet Union. The first, Mars 96, failed to reach Earth orbit. [German Aerospace Center]