Launch Success
Liftoff Time (GMT)
17:38:04
Thursday July 7, 1988
Fobos 1 was an uncrewed Soviet space probe of the Phobos Program launched from the Baikonour launch facility on 7 July 1988. Its intended mission was to explore Mars and its moons Phobos and Deimos. The mission failed on 2 September 1988 when a computer malfunction caused the end-of-mission order to be transmitted to the spacecraft. At the time of launch it was the heaviest interplanetary spacecraft ever launched, weighing 6200 kg. The Phobos probe carried several scientific experiments. It carried a radar transmitter, X-ray and alpha-backscatter spectrometers, camera, and a laser that could vaporize tiny spots so a reflector could analyze the vapor for atomic masses. The probe also carried a hopper. The hopper would be dropped onto Phobos to drill and analyze the soil. It would be able to bounce across the terrain by using spring loaded legs.
Heliocentric Orbit
1 Payload
6,220 kilograms
Manufacturer
KhrunichevRocket
Height: 56.14m
Payload to Orbit
LEO: 19,000 kg
GTO: 9,000 kg
Liftoff Thrust
9,548 Kilonewtons
Fairing
Diameter: 3.9m
Height: 10.4m
Stages
4
161st
Mission
7th
Mission of 1988
2214th
Mission
50th
Mission of 1988
59th
Orbital launch attempt