Editing Phobos program (section)

{{short description|1988 Soviet missions to Mars}}
{{Distinguish|Fobos-Grunt}}
{{more footnotes needed|date=February 2015}}
[[File:Автоматическая межпланетная станция Фобос (14988562882).jpg|thumb|Phobos probe]]
The '''Phobos program''' ({{langx|ru|Фобос, Fobos}}) was an [[uncrewed space mission]] consisting of two [[spacecraft|probes]] launched by the [[Soviet Union]] to study [[Mars]] and its [[natural satellite|moons]] [[Phobos (moon)|Phobos]] and [[Deimos (moon)|Deimos]]. ''Phobos 1'' was launched on 7 July 1988, and ''Phobos 2'' on 12 July 1988, each aboard a [[Proton rocket|Proton-K rocket]].<ref name="auto">{{Cite web|url=https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/phobos.html|title = Phobos Project Information}}</ref>

''[[Phobos 1]]'' suffered a terminal failure en route to Mars.<ref name="auto"/> ''[[Phobos 2]]'' attained Mars orbit, but contact was lost before the final phase, prior to deployment of the planned Phobos landers.<ref name="auto"/> ''Phobos 1'' and ''2'' were of a new spacecraft design, succeeding the [[4MV]] type used in the ''[[Venera]]'' [[planet]]ary missions of 1975–1985, and the [[5VK]] design last used during the ''[[Vega 1]]'' and ''[[Vega 2]]'' missions to [[Comet Halley]]. They each had a mass of 2600 [[kilogram|kg]] (6220&nbsp;kg with orbital insertion hardware attached).

The program featured cooperation from 14 other nations, including Sweden, Switzerland, Austria, France, West Germany, and the United States (which contributed the use of its [[NASA Deep Space Network]] for tracking the twin spacecraft).