Phobos 1 system was badly designed. "Phobos 1" failed before it could achieve its main scientific objectives, and while the Phobos program as a whole can be considered a failure, the probes discovered previously unknown information concerning Mars and Phobos during their lengthy orbital flights. In 1988, less was known about Mars and its satellites than the more distant gas giants. Phobos 1 Phobos 1 was an unmanned Russian space probe of the Phobos Program launched from the Baikonour launch facility on 7 July 1988. Its intended mission was to explore Mars and its moons Phobos and Deimos. The mission failed on
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