NEXT SPACEFLIGHT

Status

Success

Fobos 1

Launch Time
Thu Jul 07, 1988 17:38 UTC

Rocket

Proton-K/Block D-2
RVSN USSR
Status: Retired
Liftoff Thrust: 9,548 kN
Payload to LEO: 19,000 kg
Payload to GTO: 9,000 kg
Stages: 4
Strap-ons: 0
Rocket Height: 56.14 m
Fairing Diameter: 3.9 m
Fairing Height: 10.4 m

Mission Details

Fobos 1

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.

Payloads: 1
Total Mass: 6,220.0 kg
Heliocentric Orbit

Location

Site 200/39, Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan

Stats

1988

59th orbital launch attempt

Proton-K

161st mission
7th mission of 1988
135th successful mission
5th consecutive successful mission