NEXT SPACEFLIGHT

Status

Success

Fobos 2

Launch Time
Tue Jul 12, 1988 17:01 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 2

Fobos 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.

Sample image taken by the Fobos 2 probe. Enhanced image released by the IKI. Taken 430 km away with a resolution of 80–420 m.
Phobos 2 operated nominally throughout its cruise and Mars orbital insertion phases on 29 January 1989, gathering data on the Sun, interplanetary medium, Mars, and Phobos. Phobos 2 investigated 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' surface and release two landers (one, a mobile hopper, the other, a stationary platform) contact with Phobos 2 was lost. The mission ended when the spacecraft signal failed to be successfully reacquired on 27 March 1989. The cause of the failure was determined to be a malfunction of the on-board computer.

Payloads: 1
Total Mass: 6,219.0 kg
Heliocentric Orbit

Location

Site 200/40, Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan

Stats

1988

61st orbital launch attempt

Proton-K

162nd mission
8th mission of 1988
136th successful mission
6th consecutive successful mission