Phobos-Grunt voyager debris likely to scatter in Gobi Desert

PanARMENIAN.Net - A Russian probe designed to travel to a moon of Mars but stuck in Earth orbit will come crashing down within hours, the Russian space agency says.

Roscosmos has called off all predictions of the likely crash site of its ill-fated Mars probe hours before the spacecraft is due to begin its fatal descent.

The space agency said on its website that fragments of the stranded Phobos-Grunt voyager would probably fall to Earth between 0341 AEDT and 0805 AEDT on Monday, January 16. But it cancelled its Saturday forecast of the debris splashing down in the Pacific off the western coast of Chile.

The ITAR-TASS news agency cited space agency sources as saying the fiery plunge was now likely to begin at 0540 AEDT and possibly see the debris scatter over a remote spot in the Chinese portion of the Gobi Desert.

The unmanned $US165 million vessel - stuck in a low Earth orbit since its November 9 launch - will be one of the largest objects to re-enter the atmosphere since Russia brought down the Soviet-era Mir space station in 2001, News.com.au reported.