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    Russia doesn’t know where Mars probe crashed

    Two days after a failed Mars moon probe re-entered Earth's orbit, Russian officials admit they don't know exactly where it crashed.

    On Sunday, it was reported by several news agencies that parts of the craft had fallen into the Pacific Ocean. But now, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Alexei Zolotukhin tells the AP that the information was based on "calculations" and that there aren't any actual eye witness accounts of the debris landing.

    The unmanned probe was carrying toxic fuel that was expected to disintegrate upon reentry into Earth's atmosphere along with most of the craft itself. The Phobos-Ground probe was originally intended to travel to one of Mars' twin moons (Phobos), collect soil samples and then fly back to Earth in 2014. The ambitious project fell short when the probe never made it out of Earth's orbit, where it had been stuck for the past two months.

    However, inbound visits from the red planet have apparently been far more successful. NASA scientists have confirmed that several rocks from Mars crashed in the African desert last year, one of only a handful of confirmed findings and the first in 50 years. Scientists found a total of 13 pounds of Martian rocks, including one that weighed over two pounds. Scientists say they believe that millions of years ago something large crashed into Mars' surface, sending the debris hurtling into space.

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    • NUNO YOBIDNESS  •  Santa Fe, New Mexico  •  18 days ago
      ...and we're ditching the Space Shuttle program and turning the job of moving our astronauts to and from the Space Station over to the Russians???...oh yeah, makes perfect sense.
    • out of time  •  Statesboro, Georgia  •  17 days ago
      Maybe that's what hit Captain Francesco Schettino of the Costa Concordia knocking him into the life boat.
    • None of Your Business  •  17 days ago
      Sarah Palin can see the probe from her porch
    • Jason  •  17 days ago
      It fell in Iran. They are going to use it as a model for toy production.
    • JohnG  •  18 days ago
      Reading these comments makes me believe that there's no intelligent life on this planet.
    • danny  •  Toronto, Canada  •  17 days ago
      why send a spacecraft ? martian rocks are crashing here for free .
    • warhrse  •  18 days ago
      Just a Thought - They sent out a mars probe to collect samples. Yet the expect the malfunctioning ship to disintegrate on re entry. Is it me or is this somewhat contradictory?
    • ROY  •  17 days ago
      Will someone get this Russian crap out of my yard, lol.
    • Nanook of the North  •  Dundas, Greenland  •  17 days ago
      Oh crap-ski.
    • Carley  •  Shreveport, Louisiana  •  18 days ago
      I heard it landed off the coast of Chile.
    • izzack2  •  Sherbrooke, Canada  •  17 days ago
      It could have crashed in Iran. Its barely a joke.
    • Jordan  •  17 days ago
      I don't watch things go into space often but I do think there is far more burning of materials during re-entry then the launch itself (At least for the space craft anyway). I'm guessing what they were think was that it would disintergrate a bit since it had to go through both the launch and re-entry without a large amount of time of being cooled in space. But then again I think two months is long enough to ice it.
    • Iwin Moa  •  17 days ago
      It landed in my backyard...I'm using it as a coffe table.....
    • Keith  •  18 days ago
      Well...if you don't know where it crashed...you don't have to pay for cleanup, you don't have people inspecting it to see what short cuts were taken and failed, ....it's really better this way.
    • HiddenAgenda  •  18 days ago
      It sprinkled fiery metal fragments into the ocean..what else do you want??
    • BrokenBow  •  Los Angeles, California  •  18 days ago
      "Scientists found a total of 13 pounds of Martian rocks, including one that weighed over two pounds."
      How do they know for sure that they came from Mars? Was there something in their make-up that isn't here on earth? If so, what was it?
    • JonO  •  Barto, Pennsylvania  •  17 days ago
      Probe this you #$%$ Russki's. A communist plot if ever I heard one; that and fluoridated water---robs us of our vital bodily fluids. A Mars mission they couldn't even get out of earth orbit and we worried about them in the cold war.
    • S  •  Los Angeles, California  •  17 days ago
      I knew they dont know where its gonna end up at. Last week the Russians said its gonna crash in the Atlantic, then after weekend they said it crashed in the Pacific. Next week its gonna be in the Indian ocean. Maybe next month it's in Mars already!
    • Billman  •  17 days ago
      Better send Steve Austin to find it.
    • Hans J.  •  18 days ago
      They know very well why it failed and where it came down, but just don't want to let others in or have them retrieving debris. Given that the craft might still have been somewhat manoeverable, I wouldn't be surprised if it actually came down over Siberia.

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