Gulliver's Travels or satellites, which revolve about Mars". This may have influenced Voltaire, whose 1750 story "Micromégas" also refers to two moons of Mars. In 1877, Asaph Hall discovered the two real moons of Mars, Deimos and Phobos; in 1973 craters on Deimos were named Swift and Voltaire, and from 2006 numerous features on Phobos were named after elements from "Gulliver's Travels", including Laputa Regio, Lagado Planitia, and several craters. The term "Lilliputian" has entered many languages as an adjective meaning "small and delicate". There is even a brand of small cigar called Lilliput. There is a series of collectable model houses
Exploration of Mars a focus on Phobos. Phobos 1 lost contact on the way to Mars. Phobos 2, while successfully photographing Mars and Phobos, failed before it was set to release two landers to the surface of Phobos. Roughly two-thirds of all spacecraft destined for Mars have failed without completing their missions, and it has a reputation as a difficult space exploration target. Missions that ended prematurely after Phobos 1 and 2 (1988) include (see Probing difficulties section for more details): Following the 1993 failure of the Mars Observer orbiter, the NASA Mars Global Surveyor achieved Mars orbit in 1997. This mission was