Europe suspends, restarts, lost Russian Mars probe contacts

Update: ESA officials announced on Dec. 7 that they would try again to contact a lost Russian satellite.

ESA statement:  click here

European Space Agency officials have suspended efforts to contact Russia's Phobo-Grunt Mars probe.

Launched Nov. 8, the mission reached orbit more than 130 miles high above Earth, but failed to start its transfer rocket to travel to Mars. European Space Agency transmitters have contacted the wayward spacecraft briefly since Nov. 23, but efforts to regain control of the spacecraft last week proved fruitless.

"In consultation and agreement with (Phobos-Grunt) mission controllers, ESA engineers will end (tracking) ground station support," the space agency announced. "ESA ground teams remain available to assist the (Phobos Grunt) t mission if indicated by any change in situation."

USA TODAY asked Phobos-Grunt mission scientist Alexander Zakharov of the Space Research Institute in Moscow, to comment by email on the status of the ambitious mission, which would have returned a soil sample from the Martian moon, Phobos, to Earth.

"Unfortunately, the (spacecraft) does not respond on any command from the Earth, however attempts of communication are continued still. "

"The Phobos-Soil science team would like to repeat the mission using (the) experience that we got working on this mission. However the decision has to be done by ROSCOSMOS."

ROSCOSMOS, the Russian space agency remains in control of deciding on any further efforts to recover the lost spacecraft. Officials estimate that the spacecraft will likely re-enter the atmosphere in January, if control is not re-established.