
Did the ExoMars Mission Narrowly Escape a Launch Disaster? - mholt
http://www.popularmechanics.com/space/rockets/a20044/exomars-narrow-escape-launch-disaster/
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kartikkumar
I wonder if there's enough data to reconstruct the demise of the upper stage.
Re-entry physics is extremely interesting and complex. ESA has a number of
articles on the analysis of the re-entry of the GOCE satellite [1]. There are
a couple of tools that are considered the defacto standards for computing
high-altitude re-entry physics like SCARAB and ORSAT [2].

A colleague of mine working in the same EU project as me [3] is developing an
open-source tool that can switch between low- and high-fidelity computations
[4].

Wonder if any of the observations recorded are valuable to calibrate these
models.

[1] [http://blogs.esa.int/rocketscience/tag/re-
entry/](http://blogs.esa.int/rocketscience/tag/re-entry/)

[2]
[http://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=20100005304](http://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=20100005304)

[3] [http://www.stardust2013.eu](http://www.stardust2013.eu)

[4]
[http://www.congrexprojects.com/Custom/15A01/Presentations/Au...](http://www.congrexprojects.com/Custom/15A01/Presentations/Auditorium/Thursday/Numerical%20Modelling%20VII/Auditorium_14.55_Mehta.pdf)

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LoSboccacc
Isn't that stage on a escape trajectory?

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kartikkumar
The upper stage gets left behind in Earth orbit. The Briz-M stage provides the
kick to propel the payload to a higher orbit and then usually there's a kick
motor that follows up, in this case, delivering a Trans-Mars Injection
maneuver to set the spacecraft on its way to Mars.

EDIT: Actually realised I'm wrong since the Briz-M is the 4th stage, not the
3rd. The 3rd stage remains in orbit and then splashes down and the 4th stage
actually provides the entire kick for TMI [1]

[1] [http://blogs.esa.int/rocketscience/2016/03/13/why-exomars-
ri...](http://blogs.esa.int/rocketscience/2016/03/13/why-exomars-ride-to-
space-takes-the-time-it-does/)

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LoSboccacc
Saw some diagram and it seems after the kick it has an additional burn to get
it into a graveyard orbit instead of goong to mars along the payload. Maybe
that burn which failed

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kartikkumar
The blog post I linked to in my previous comment suggests differently. Do you
happen to know where you saw that diagram? Since I'm working on space debris,
I'm curious what the target graveyard orbit is if it's not escaping.

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LoSboccacc
Not an actual flight path
[http://www.russianspaceweb.com/images/spacecraft/planetary/m...](http://www.russianspaceweb.com/images/spacecraft/planetary/mars/exomars/2016/launch/4_escape_orbit.jpg)

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giomasce
It always impress me how much it is difficult to track things in space, so
that still in 2016 we may not have an idea of what is happening up there...

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ohitsdom
Some better info here on the incident and more details on the venting issue
with the Briz-M stage:

[http://www.popularmechanics.com/space/rockets/a20044/exomars...](http://www.popularmechanics.com/space/rockets/a20044/exomars-
narrow-escape-launch-disaster/)

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dang
Ok, we changed the URL to that. Thanks! It isn't obvious which is better, but
since the other URL
([http://russianspaceweb.com/exomars2016-eop.html](http://russianspaceweb.com/exomars2016-eop.html))
triggered a useless discussion, perhaps we'll have better luck with this one.

Hint: everything in the current thread is marked off-topic, so if anyone would
care to seed a new discussion with something substantive, that'd be grand.

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pinewurst
I hope the author likes the taste of polonium in his coffee.

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dang
Please don't do this here.

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USANEEDSHELP
The USSR hasn't received approval from the IPTA to fly and land on Mars.

IPTA = Intragalatic Planetary Travel Association

