Phobos program

Fobos 1 and Fobos 2 (Russian Фобос ) are the names of two Soviet space probes from the year 1988. Both probes should explore the Martian moon Phobos.

Mission

The aim of the project was to send two probes into Mars orbit for about a month. Then both Orbiter should head for Mars moon Phobos, orbiting it and a lander and a " Springer " depose (only Fobos 2). As a partner of the Soviet Union brought the ( at that time still purely Western ) European Space Agency ( ESA) on board, an expression of perestroika under Gorbachev. In addition, with the GDR also a Soviet bloc state was involved.

Course

Fobos 1

On July 7, 1988 Fobos started one, but broke the contact with this probe as early as 2 September 1988. When contacting a few days before a code was accidentally been communicated to the mistakenly shuts down the control thrusters. Since this, the solar cells were no longer aligned with the sun, the batteries exhausted.

Fobos 2

The sister probe Phobos 2 launched on July 12, 1988 and reached Mars orbit on 28 January 1989. Several data and images from Mars were transmitted to Earth before the probe Phobos was heading. Shortly before the visit of the contact on March 27, 1989 broke off. What remained were the hitherto collected measurement results and detailed images of Phobos.

Fobos 2 was the last planetary space mission of the Soviet Union. Other planned missions accounted for due to the upheaval in the Soviet bloc after 1989.