Russia's space officials have considered the Phobos-Grunt mission, which aimed to bring soil from a Martian moon back to Earth, "lost".

"There is little chance that we will be able to realize this mission," said Vitaly Davydov, deputy head of Roscosmos in the first official acknowledgment on failed probe.

"We need to be realists. Since we could not establish contact for so long, the chances to carry out this expedition right now are very slim," Davydov said in a statement to the several news agencies.

An airspace source earlier said that the probe can no longer be sent to a Mars moon as the launch window has closed on Nov. 21. Davydov said the next such window will open up in two years.

The Russian space official added that while the 13.5 ton probe, which is carrying highly toxic fuel, could also crash into the earth, it is impossible to predict the exact position of such an event.

"The crash area of any craft can only be estimated in the final 24 hours," Davydov said. "Before then, saying what will fall and where is pointless."

Russia launched the Phobos-Grunt research probe to the Martian moon Phobos on Nov. 9, in an attempt to reinvigorate its interplanetary program which had not seen a successful mission since the fall of the Soviet Union.
Because of the failed probe, Davydov said that in the future Russia may just focus on sending probes to the Earth's moon and researching on Mars in cooperation with its international partners.

"Maybe it makes sense to switch to more comprehensive steps towards the Moon, and regarding Mars, to rely on cooperation with our foreign partners," Davydov said.