1988-07-12 · 38 years ago

Fobos-2 — launch

Date in UTC

Phobos 2 was the last space probe designed by the Soviet Union. It was designed to explore the moons of Mars, Phobos and Deimos. It was launched on 12 July 1988, and entered orbit on 29 January 1989. Phobos 2 operated nominally throughout its cruise and Mars orbital insertion phase on 29 January 1989, gathering data on the Sun, interplanetary medium, Mars, and Phobos. Phobos 2 investigated the Mars surface and atmosphere and returned 37 images of Phobos with a resolution of up to 40 meters. Shortly before the final phase of the mission, during which the spacecraft was to approach within 50 m of Phobos's surface and release two landers (one, a mobile hopper, the other, a stationary platform) contact with Phobos 2 was lost.

Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phobos_2. Original timeline Wikipedia link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phobos_program. Related NASA reference: https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/chronology.html#1988. Description adapted from Wikipedia contributors (CC BY-SA 4.0; https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).

Category
Launches and Flight Tests
Type
Orbital launch
Subjects
Space transportation
Mission
Fobos-2
Organization
Upravleniye Nachalnika Kosmicheskikh Sredstv
Vehicle
Proton-K/D-2
Location
NIIP-5, Baykonur, Kazakstan
Country
SU
Outcome
Successful

Sources and attribution

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