Inside Russia's Mars Moon Sampling Mission: Infographic

Russian space officials hope to correct a problem that has prevented the Phobos-Grunt probe from departing Earth orbit on its mission to collect soil samples from a moon of Mars. (Image credit: Karl Tate, SPACE.com Contributor)

The Phobos-Grunt spacecraft launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 3:16 p.m. EST (2016 GMT) on Nov. 8, 2011, and separated from its Zenit rocket properly, Russian officials said. However, the spacecraft's own engine failed to ignite to take the vehicle on a trajectory to Mars, leaving it stranded in Earth orbit.

Failure Common Among Mars Missions (Timeline)

Photos: Russia's Phobos-Grunt Mission to Mars Moon

Dirt from Phobos: Russia Aims to Bring Some Back

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Karl's association with Space.com goes back to 2000, when he was hired to produce interactive Flash graphics. From 2010 to 2016, Karl worked as an infographics specialist across all editorial properties of Purch (formerly known as TechMediaNetwork). Before joining Space.com, Karl spent 11 years at the New York headquarters of The Associated Press, creating news graphics for use around the world in newspapers and on the web. He has a degree in graphic design from Louisiana State University and now works as a freelance graphic designer in New York City.

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