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
- Jonathan McDowell — General Catalog of Artificial Space Objects (opens in a new tab) — Data from GCAT (J. McDowell, planet4589.org/space/gcat), CC BY 4.0. Adapted into anniversary records. (CC BY 4.0)
- Wikipedia — Phobos 2 (opens in a new tab) — Adapted from Wikipedia contributors; selected sentences retained and edited for length, reference markers and pronunciation glosses. CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ Article and edit history: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phobos_2 (CC BY-SA 4.0)
- Original Wikipedia link from NSE timeline (opens in a new tab) (CC BY-SA 4.0)
- Timeline of Space Exploration Missions 1957 to 2031 (opens in a new tab)
- NASA — Phobos 2 (opens in a new tab)
- NASA NSSDCA — Phobos 2 (opens in a new tab)
