MOSCOW — The Soviet Union lost "stable radio contact" with its backup space probe to the Martian moon Phobos, possibly dooming an ambitious program to scout out possible landing sites for a manned expedition to the planet, Tass said today.
Last September, the Soviets lost contact and abandoned the first of the twin Martian probes, Phobos I, but space engineers redoubled efforts to ensure success of the sister probe, Phobos II, to Mars and the Martian moon Phobos.
