USA intentionally killed Russia's Phobos-Ground?
The failure with the launch of Phobos-Ground (also spelled Phobos-Grunt) space probe, especially against the background of the successful launch of the US Martian mission, gave rise to a wave of rumors and versions. Even if the fact of foreign interference is determined, no one will ever hear the official confirmation to that. Such a conclusion will not meet the interests of either the United States or Russia.
"Did you serve in the department that was in charge of launching and supervising space probes?"
"Yes, I served as a duty officer of the ground telemetry station in Simferopol. We would establish connection with spacecraft as soon as they appeared on their trajectory. We would then measure its orbit and hand over the information to other stations. There were ten ground telemetry stations operating in the Soviet Union. However, that was not enough to control spacecraft only from the territory of our country. As soon as the craft flies beyond the horizon, we lose communication with it. To expand the zone of control, there were mobile ground telemetry stations built on board many vessels that could travel all over the world. That was called the "expeditionary department of the Academy of Sciences," although it was actually a military installation.
"One of the versions explaining the failed launch of Phobos-Ground said that it could happen because of the powerful US radar in Alaska. Can this be possible at all?"
"I doubt about the radar. Some sort of very strong interference could be the reason, though. It could be both incidental and intentional. Why could this be intentional? The US mission to Mars was launched very soon after Russia's Phobos-Ground. The US spacecraft virtually amowed the Russian probe - it flew in the same direction. It just so happens that the Russians and the Americans had to control their spacecraft at one and the same time. It could be possible that such efforts could create interference, especially during the time when the probes were only flying into space, when the signal is very powerful. The signals from Phobos-Ground and from the US Martian probe would collide with each other."
USA intentionally killed Russia's Phobos-Ground? - English pravda.ru
