Or, it could mean that they gain control of the spacecraft, but that the Fregat engine still will not ignite, yet the much less powerful propulsion units designed to land the craft on Phobos and propel the return capsule back to Earth are working fine.
The probe was built to land on the larger of Mars' two moons, Phobos, and scoop up rock to bring back to Earth.
But for some reason, those engine burns never happened, and Phobos-Grunt has continued to circle the Earth.
Both the ESA and Roscosmos were able to communicate with Phobos-Grunt while it was in orbit and send commands to the probe.
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Without the Fregat upper stage, Grunt cannot travel to Phobos, yet if this powerful and massive stage were jettisoned, some less powerful, but functional, engines would be available for burns.
According to Roscosmos head Vladimir Popovkin, the space agency has about two weeks to communicate with the probe and give it the commands to fire its boosters and set course for Phobos.
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Fellow tracker Ted Molczan from Toronto, Canada, has been trying to determine the precise orbit of Phobos-Grunt around the Earth, and thought on Friday he had seen the craft rise slightly.
Exxon has been consistently investing in upstream facilities over 2012, and key examples include the Kearl Initial Development Project for natural gas and offshore oil prospects such as the Phobos in the Gulf of Mexico.
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Despite valiant efforts by Roscosmos and other space agencies, the Russian probe Phobos-Grunt will be falling back to Earth over the weekend, most likely on Sunday night, according to projections by the Center for Orbital and Reentry Debris Studies at the Aerospace Corporation.
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Phobos-Grunt launched successfully on its Zenit rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome and was dropped off into an elliptical orbit with an apogee (farthest point from Earth) of 345km.
In his letter, Zelenyi urges his fellow scientists not to give up hope and to try again on another mission when the next window to Phobos opens in 26 months.
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On Friday, Phobos-Grunt was moving around the Earth at an altitude that varied between 177km (perigee) and 224km (apogee).
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