It appears the Phobos Life project has been lost to a malfunctioning Russian rocket. What is the Phobos Life project, you ask? More importantly, what the heck is transpermia?
Transpermia is a scientific hypothesis which asks the question: Could life be transferred from one planet to another on rocks traveling through space. The theory goes like this; during meteor collisions rocks containing life are blasted away from the surface of a planet, travel through space and then land on another planet, thus transferring life. We’re not talking mammals like four legged animals hitching a ride on a rocket rock, but rather microscopic microbes buried deep inside the rock. Perhaps Mars once held life and during a massive collision spewed out life laiden chucks of its surface towards the third rock from the sun.
Phobos Life Experiment is a Planetary Society funded experiment where an assortment of different organisms are sent into space for a period of time and then returned to the surface to see who has survived. Some of the organisms are extremaphiles found near volcanic vents in the oceans and survive at extreme temperatures and those that survive at very cold temperatures. The samples are placed in a capsule that mimic a meteorite and sent into space.
On June 1, 2011, the LIFE samples returned to Earth after flying on the last space shuttle flight, STS-134. The results found at least two forms of microbes still alive after being exposed to the harshness of space. The next test would be on a mission to Mar’s moon Phobos with the Russian Phobos Sample Return Mission. The mission is to land on Phobos, collect soil and rock samples and then return to Earth. The Planetary Societies LIFE experiment is also going on the three year round trip journey with a window that opened on Nov. 8.
Now that you have a bit of background on the project and some sort of context, let’s get down to why this was a bad idea from the start. But I don’t want to get ahead of myself. The problem is that the Russian’s have lost communication with the spacecraft that launched earlier this week. There is no confirmation that it has left Earth’s orbit and may indeed be stalled out burning its fuel as it tries to break free from the pull of our planets gravity. Amateur astronomers have spotted the rocket and it appears to not be tumbling in orbit. This is good news. If they cannot revive the rocket it is estimated to fall back to Earth no earlier than December 3.
To leave planet Earth an escape velocity of 11.2 km/s (approx. 40,320 km/h, or 25,000 mph) is required, however a speed of 42.1 km/s is required to escape the Sun's gravity (and exit the solar system) from the same position. The Phobos rocket is caught in Earth's orbit and will eventually fall back to the surface.
Eventually it will run out of fuel and fall back to the surface. How could this happen? We’ve been launching rockets into space since the 1950′s. I mean come on, it’s not rocket science. Well, okay, actually it is. But the science behind it has been well documented and tested over the years. The amount of kinetic energy needed to break free from the surly bonds of our home are well known. This leaves only two possible reasons. Malfunction or incompetence. The former seems to be the explanation but then again we are hearing this story from the people running the mission in Russia and therefore may not be inclined to suggest the latter. Everyone make mistakes, I made one once many years ago, but that’s besides the point. Even if they prove a mechanical, electrical, or material failure as the cause of this fiasco it still comes back to incompetence.
Incompetence of design, incompetence of engineering, incompetence of manufacture, and incompetence of quality control. Quality has to be maintained at every step of the process when dealing with rocket science. You only get one shot at success. We, as in the US and our space agency, NASA, went to the moon not once but several times because we had control over the process. I’ll admit there were mishaps on the ground and an incident during the flight of Apollo 13, but through skill and determination the crew made it back in one piece. Since the Apollo missions we have not sent a man into space, save for low earth orbit, the shuttle missions, the international space station. We have only sent robotic probes and instruments in our place. The cost is less and the stakes are lower. If a probe malfunctions or crashes into its target then all responsible can go home and sleep well knowing they weren’t responsible for ending a life. Even when there were accidents they were our accidents, our mistakes. Our incompetency.
When we entrust others to do our work we end up with what happened this week. All the money in the world cannot replace the motivation and conscientiousness when people work together as a team. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not advocating nationalism and doing everything ourselves. For example, the international space station has been in operation for many years and continues to carry out its mission as a multi-nation project. Honestly, the space station was designed by the now defunct McDonnell Douglas Corporation, who had the major design and assembly contract. They parsed out other tasks to both domestic and international companies. We had control and the outcome is apparent. When we give up control, at the process level, we put our future into the hands of others.
I received an email from Bill Nye, CEO of the Planetary Society – I would like to share with you:
Dear Victor Grippi,
A few days ago, I wrote to you with the news that our Phobos LIFE experiment had launched and, riding on the Phobos-Grunt spacecraft, it had taken its first step on the road to Mars’ moon, Phobos.
But, as you know, something has gone wrong. The Phobos-Grunt spacecraft has not yet made it out of Earth orbit. So far, despite many attempts to contact the spacecraft, no one has learned exactly what went wrong. And without that information, we don’t know if the mission can be saved.
We are closely monitoring all available information channels, from inside the Russian space program and around the world, and will be posting what we learn at http://planetary.org
Despite this setback, we are not giving up. Every time a mission launches to Mars, the Planetary Society will strive to be part of it. With you as our valued partner, we will keep pushing back the boundaries of the unknown.
Onward!
Bill Nye
CEO, The Planetary Society
I hope to never see an email like this again. “Monitoring all channels within the Russian space program” – translation – they are not telling us the full story. We are relying on information posted on their blog, like they are a local carpet cleaning company. They launched a 13.5 ton spacecraft into the air, containing God knows what and are now saying, “Opps!”
Is it fear of admitting incompetency or just pure ignorance. Lost communication? Unless it has already exploded how do you lose contact with something that hasn’t left Earth’s orbit? It was supposed to fly to Mars. Wouldn’t a craft going to Mars have a backup radio link? A backup power supply? A way to manually override control of the ship. Or did all systems fail? Were parts from Chernobyl used?
Perhaps The Atomic Writer is being a bit harsh but I’d like nothing more than to see a mission to Mars succeed. I grew up watching Star Track and Star Wars – seeing before my eyes the wonder of space exploration, only to grow up and realize this thing called money is better spent on other matters, other things. I am disappointed because we were not in control of the process. We did not verify the quality of the component pieces that went into the spacecraft. We did not unit test the software navigation system, the propulsion system needed to reach escape velocity. We did not verify the integrity of those involved. We simply went to a another nation, with an active space program, and paid to put our experiment on it, like paying FedEx to deliver a package.
I know some of you are screaming, but the future is not a centralized government agency like NASA. You are citing the recent rise in the commercial space program. Having space tourism pay the enormous cost is enticing but only until the first mishap when everyone screams, “WHERE WAS THE QUALITY CONTROL”, why didn’t someone double check the parameters responsible. Why isn’t there a standard in place. This is why a central agency, full of anal retentive nerds is so necessary. Protocols need to be established and tested, like a UL listing for an electrical device. These are standards proven to provide a safe and properly functioning device. I recommend a dual private sector/government ran agency where the best of both worlds can be realized.
Make NASA commercial, don’t disband it in favor of the private sector.
We need to leave the cradle we call Earth and step out into the cosmos. If nothing else for survival. Eventually our planet will become uninhabitable, a comet or meteor impact, a virus, the core binding up and losing our magnetic shield, a massive coronal ejection from the sun could also do it with a full magnetic shield. If we are not spreading out into the cosmos, jumping from planet to planet, asteroid to asteroid, we are burying our heads in the sand. We must not leave all our eggs in one basket.
Remember, never stop looking up at the night sky and asking, what if…
Victor Grippi
The Atomic Writer
