So it's been a week since Phobos/Grunt plunged into oblivion, and the news of the Russian probe has disappeared into oblivion as well. (I must confess that I have been a little less than vigilant since Thursday when the long Winter's drought began to end, and my NFL Football team the San Francisco 49ers were playing for a berth in the Super Bowl™)
So we've all been waiting for some definitive word on Phobos/Grunt's demise. No word has been forthcoming since reentry. There is still a little finger pointing coming from Russian sources.
Finally, this could be closure:
@Zarya_Info tweets: "Phobos-Grunt - SpaceTrack has issued a full TIP Message for the decay: http://www.zarya.info/Diaries/Misc/PhobosGrunt3.php , notes & updated map:"
Zarya's posted his Phobos/Grunt Wrap-Up Blog.
@cosmos4u tweets: "Eight days after Fobos-Grunt came down, the U.S. military "suddenly" claims to know precisely(!) when & where: http://www.zarya.info/Diaries/Misc/PhobosGrunt4.php -source?"
As an American taxpayer, I'd be dismayed if US Stratcom didn't watch reentry in realtime from it's vast array of Spy Satellites. Furthermore, I'd expect them to keep their hand close to the vest, lest they tip potential adversaries to our surveillance capabilities.
Thanks for following along everyone! Stay tuned...there's tons of satellites in decaying orbits. I'll cover the next one when in shows up on my radar!
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Oh, a lot of agencies and telescopes watched the entry in "real time". THEY just don't want to give up the skinny.
ReplyDeleteNo snow down here on the valley. Up on the hills they have snow.
You and your crew seem to be fighting an up hill battle. Time to throw in the white flag?