Phobos 1
Phobos 1 — a Soviet orbiter built to study Mars and its moon Phobos (launched 7 July 1988). On 29 August 1988 a wrong command from the ground switched off its attitude control; its solar panels turned away from the Sun, its batteries ran down, and contact was lost on 2 September. It passed Mars silent and went into orbit around the Sun.
Key facts
Mission & specifications
Mission
- Operator
- Lavochkin / IKI (USSR)
- Launched
- July 7, 1988
- Status
- Lost
Trajectory
- Distance from the Sun
- 1.58 AU
- Computed from the cached position
- Distance from Earth
- 1.52 AU
- Computed from cached positions
- Distance from Mars
- 4,697,649 km
- Computed from cached positions
Mission
Phobos 1 and its twin Phobos 2 were the most ambitious Soviet planetary mission of the 1980s, built with contributions from more than a dozen other countries and ESA. Each 6,220 kg craft was to orbit Mars, then fly within about 50 m of its moon Phobos, zapping the surface with a laser and a beam of ions to study what came off, and drop a lander that would anchor itself with a harpoon. Phobos 1 left Earth on 7 July 1988. On 29 August a command meant to switch on an instrument was sent with a programming error, and instead it switched off the craft's attitude control. Its solar panels drifted away from the Sun and its batteries ran down. There was no reply at the next session, on 2 September 1988, and on 3 November the Soviet Union announced that attempts to reach it had ended. NSSDCA's record dates the loss of contact to 1989 — a slip for 1988, the year it was launched and fell silent. It flew past Mars without entering orbit and went into orbit around the Sun. Before it fell silent, its solar telescope had returned valuable observations of the Sun's outer layers.
- 1988Phobos 1 launches toward Mars on a Proton rocketLaunch
An orbiter bound for Mars and its moon Phobos.
- 1988A wrong commandMilestone
A programming error switches off its attitude control.
- 1988Contact lostMission end
With its solar panels turned from the Sun, it does not answer.
Images
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