US Refuses To Participate In Russian Phobos-Grunt Crash Investigation

It seems some in Russia aren't ready to give up on the notion that the US had part in the failure of its Phobos-grunt probe. There have been some scientists in Russia that call the idea that a US radar station could have caused damage to the Phobos-grunt spacecraft unlikely. Despite Russia's own scientists doubting any US involvement, Russian space officials want to test the idea.

Russia has so far not accused the US outright of sabotaging Phobos-grunt, but the talk has been all around Russian media that the US could have caused the failure of the craft. Russia has officially asked the US to participate in an investigation to prove whether or not the US radar could have caused the failure.

Deputy head of the Russian space agency Roscosmos, Anatoly Shylov said Thursday that the US had refused to participate. Many still feel that the finger pointing at a US radar station is nothing but an attempt to hide the mistakes of other people on the mission program.

Shylov said, "Roscosmos filed an official request to the U.S. side to participate in the investigation, but they refused."

[via Ria.ru]