Russian solar observer missing
Published 23 December, 2009, 16:41
Hopes of reestablishing contact with the Russian scientific satellite Coronas-Foton are diminishing. Engineers believe the sun-observing satellite’s battery has degraded and is failing to power its systems.
Sat’s signal was initially lost on December 1, following six months of increasing malfunction reports. Since December 11, there was no contact with Coronas-Foton at all.
Scientists believe the satellite’s chemical battery, which stores power harvested by solar panels, has degraded ahead of time. They say their last chance to get in touch with the equipment will be in early January next year, when it will get a constant power supply directly from the panels thanks to an orbit that will not pass through Earth’s shadow.
Coronas-Foton was launched in January this year. Its mission is to study corona, flares and similar solar atmospheric phenomena.
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