MOSCOW. Oct 19 (Interfax-AVN) - The launch of the automatic interplanetary station, Phobos-Grunt, which is due to bring soil samples from Phobos, one of the moons of Mars, to the Earth, is scheduled for November 9, the Russian Space Agency (Roscosmos) told Interfax-AVN on Wednesday.
"The launch of the Zenit-2SB carrier rocket with Phobos-Grunt from Baikonur Cosmodrome is slated for November 9 at 00:16 a.m. Moscow time," the source said.
The automatic interplanetary station was delivered to the cosmodrome last Monday, he recalled.
Phobos-Grunt is designed for delivering Phobos soil samples to the Earth and for studying Phobos, Mars and the circumplanetary space.
After the liftoff the station is due to reach the Mars orbit and release the Chinese satellite Yinghuo-1, then descend to Phobos, take soil samples and head back to the Earth. The total duration of the interplanetary expedition is three years.
The station consists of the main propulsion unit, a frame structure with the Chinese satellite, a cruise stage and a reentry vehicle. The liftoff weight of the automatic interplanetary station will be 13.5 tonnes.
The Phobos-Grunt launch was initially planned for 2009, but was postponed until November 2011 for technical reasons.