On March 27, 1989, Mission Phobos-2 The Soviet Union’s mission to the moons of Mars ended in failure, but the entire mission was certainly not a failure.
Phobos-2
Phobos-2 was the last space probe designed by the Soviet Union. This spacecraft is to discover information about the moons of Mars. Phobos And Deimos It was designed.
Phobos-2 was launched on July 12, 1988 and entered orbit on January 29, 1989.
Shortly before the final phase of the mission, during which the spacecraft was supposed to approach within fifty meters of the surface of Phobos and drop two landers on the moon, the mission control was cut off and its guidance was lost. The cause of this failure was determined to be a computer error.
Achievements
Phobos-2 reached the orbit of Mars two months earlier and was studying Mars and Phobos, the largest moon of this planet. During this time, 37 pictures were transmitted from Phobos to Earth.
The Phobos 2 infrared spectrometer searched in the near-infrared and in the equatorial regions of Mars. These observations made it possible to retrieve the first mineralogical maps of the planet and its moons and to study the atmosphere of Mars. But the infrared spectrometer found no sign of water.
