Phobos (moon) from the surface of Phobos -from a permanent outpost, to a transfer orbit. This sand could be released in front of the spacecraft during the descent maneuver and then resulting in a densification of the atmosphere just in front of the spacecraft. Phobos (moon) Phobos ( , , ; systematic designation: ) is the innermost and larger of the two natural satellites of Mars, the other being Deimos. Both moons were discovered in 1877 by American astronomer Asaph Hall. Phobos is a small, irregularly shaped object with a mean radius of and is seven times as massive as the outer
Phobos (moon) is currently ongoing. As of 2017, MMX is scheduled to be launched in 2024, and will return to Earth five years later. Russia plans to repeat Fobos-Grunt mission in the late 2020s, and the European Space Agency is assessing a sample-return mission for 2024 called Phootprint. Phobos has been proposed as an early target for a Human mission to Mars. The teleoperation of robotic scouts on Mars by humans on Phobos could be conducted without significant time delay, and planetary protection concerns in early Mars exploration might be addressed by such an approach. Phobos has also been proposed as an