Contact Made With Stranded Russian Probe

Phobos-Grunt probe, the Russian probe stuck in Earth orbit, has said to have made contact with the European Space Agency's tracking station in Perth, Australia.

The probe has been stranded in space since November 9 after an inability to fire up its engine and has since continued to circle the Earth. It was supposed to land on one of Mars' two moons, Phobos and bring back rock samples from there.

If the line of communication is kept open, engineers might just be able to diagnose the problem, the best-case scenario being that of a software malfunction which would require new commands to be uploaded. If, however, the problem lies with the hardware, chances for repair might be very slim.