Russian academy of
sciences
Russian aviation and
space agency
“PHOBOS - SOIL”
Phobos Sample Return Mission
1. goals, methods of study
A.Zakharov, zakharov@iki.rssi.ru
PHOBOS - SOIL
Goals of the Mission
• Phobos regolith sample return,
• Phobos in situ study,
• Mars and Phobos remote sensing.
Mars system science:
– Phobos investigation (regolith, origin and evolution of the
Martian moons),
– Martian environment conditions (dust, plasma, radiation),
– Monitoring of the Martian atmosphere and surface global
dynamics.
PHOBOS - SOIL
Scientific objections
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study physical and chemical characteristics of Phobos regolith and
subsurface layers in situ and under laboratory conditions - these data can
provide information on properties of primordial matter of the Solar system;
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study of the role played by asteroidal impacts in the formation of terrestrial
planets, in the evolution of their atmospheres, crusts, and inventories of
volotiles;
study of the origin of the Martian satellites and their relation to Mars - these
data can help in our understanding of their evolution and the origin of satellite systems near
other planets;
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search of possible life or paleolife;
study of peculiarities of orbital and proper motion of Phobos, what is important
for understanding their origin, internal structure, celestial mechanics applications;
study physical conditions of the Martian environment (dust, gas, plasma
components) what is important to study of treatment processes of small body regolith under
influence of external conditions and creation of engineering model of the Martian
environment for future Martian missions;
Monitoring of dynamic of the Martian atmosphere and seasons climate
changing.
PHOBOS - SOIL
Methods of investigation
1. Delivery of sample of the matter at the Earth. With a returned sample it would be possible to
address the following topics:
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absolute dating, the length of formatting interval and the subsequent evolution;
precise identification of primitive material, its chemical composition;
origin of Phobos / Deimos and their relation to Mars;
search of organic material.
2. In-situ study. Measurements on Phobos`s surface will provide the opportunity to establish a ground truth data
need for validation and interpretation of remote sensing and to do a detailed, in situ study of regolith samples,
specifically their:
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elemental and mineral composition, volatile content;
microscopic structure, physical and mechanical properties of the regolith;
celestial mechanic and fundamental physics experiments;
long duration monitoring of Mars.
3. Remote sensing: Remote sensing of Phobos from co-orbiting spacecraft will provide global coverage of data
related to both the surface and internal structure of the satellite, will provide an opportunity to relate data returned
from the landing site to the all Phobos`s surface:
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global geologic mapping,
size, shape, mass, bulk density,
color, albedo, photometric scattering and thermal properties,
mapping of global elemental and mineral composition,
internal structure,
landing site certification and selection,
The Martian environment (dust tori, solar wind - Phobos`s surface interaction).
PHOBOS - SOIL
MAIN CHARACTERISTICS OF THE MISSION
Launch vehicle……………………………………………………Soyuz-2
Launch date………………………………………………. September 7-29, 2009
Flight duration (to Mars)……..……………………….…….. 280-350 days
Launch date from Phobos………………………………13.07-12 August 2011
Duration of near-Mars operation time…..…………..not more than 365 days
Flight duration (from Mars)………………………………..….295-320 days
Date of arrival to Earth……………………………………….14.05-8 June 2012
Total duration of the mission…………………………….……1005 days
PHOBOS - SOIL
MISSION PROFILE
BABAKIN SCIENCE AND RESEARCH SPACE CENTER
The Lavochkin / Babakin space association design
PHOBOS - SOIL
Payload zone
Payload zone
The Lavochkin / Babakin space association design
PHOBOS - SOIL
SC CONFIGURATION (on the Phobos surface)
HGA
Return vehicle
Soil sampling device
Solar array
Landing gear
The Lavochkin / Babakin space association design
PHOBOS - SOIL
Strawman Payload
Instrument
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TV-system
Chromatomass-spectrometer
Manipulator with instruments
Gamma-spectrometer
Neutron spectrometer
Mass-spectrometer
Seismometer
Long-waves radar
Optical Spectrometer
Dust counter
Plasma spectr.+magnetom.
Solar sensor
Precise transmitter
Index
In situ
In orbit
TVS
ChS
MPL
GSP
NSP
MSS
SSM
LWR
AOS
DUC
PLM
SSR
PTR
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PHOBOS - SOIL
Current status
The PHOBOS-GRUNT project is the only national planetary project in the current
decade.
The Lavochkin / Babakin space association is the main contractor of the spacecraft.
Mass of the payload is 50 kg. The project has the resources to include additional
payload with a mass about 120 kg. This mass margin could be used for including
additional element(s) for the investigation of Mars (i.e. small station on the surface,
balloon, penetrators, etc.) or a probe for the study of Deimos.
About 30 proposals for scientific experiments have been received for the project from
Russian scientific teams. The next step is a preselected search of proposed
experiments for the mission from scientific and technical point of view.