Russia Phobos-Grunt: Mars-bound Craft Loses Way Minutes After Launch

Adding to the country's list of space bungles, a Russian space craft designed to collect rock and dust samples from a Martian moon has flown of course just minutes after being launched.

The Russian space agency has since reported that the craft veered off course after an engine designed to keep it on track failed to start.

As a result of the engine failure the probe is reportedly stuck in Earth's orbit.

Russian engineers have since clarified that they have three days to correct the problem before the craft's batteries run out.

Codenamed "grunt" (soil in Russian) the craft was the agency's most ambitious mission in years. Grunt was designed to travel to and collect samples from a 27 km-wide "Phobos" moon orbiting Mars.

Scientists had hoped that the samples would help shed light on the mysterious moon's origin, with many believing it may be an asteroid caught in Mars orbit.

The mission was doubly important as the craft was carrying China's first Mars satellite. Weighing in at 115kg, the Yinghuo-1 was planned to ride with Grunt to Mars, releasing it into an observation orbit once it arrived.

A spokesman for the Russian Space Agency has since clarified that scientists are working to fix grunt's engine failure and still hope to have the samples back on Earth within three year's time