Editing Phobos (moon) (section)

=== Launched missions ===
[[File:Phobos over Mars - Peridier Crater, Syrtis Major quadrangle - ESA Mars Express (52568167027).png|thumb|Phobos over Mars (ESA ''Mars Express'')]]
Phobos has been photographed in close-up by several spacecraft whose primary mission has been to photograph Mars. The first was ''[[Mariner 7]]'' in 1969, followed by ''[[Mariner 9]]'' in 1971, ''[[Viking 1]]'' in 1977, [[Phobos 2]] in 1989<ref name=Harvey253>{{cite book |last=Harvey |first=Brian |date=2007 |title=Russian Planetary Exploration History, Development, Legacy and Prospects |publisher=Springer-Praxis |pages=253–254 |isbn=9780387463438}}</ref> ''[[Mars Global Surveyor]]'' in 1998 and 2003, ''[[Mars Express]]'' in 2004, 2008, 2010<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8550362.stm |access-date=7 March 2010 |title=Closest Phobos flyby gathers data |date=4 March 2010 |location=London |work=BBC News }}</ref> and 2019, and ''[[Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter]]'' in 2007 and 2008. On 25 August 2005, the [[Spirit Rover|''Spirit'' rover]], with an excess of energy due to wind blowing dust off of its solar panels, took several short-exposure photographs of the night sky from the surface of Mars, and was able to successfully photograph both Phobos and Deimos.<ref>{{cite web |title=Two Moons Passing in the Night |url=http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/press/spirit/20050909a.html |publisher=NASA |access-date=27 June 2011 }}</ref>

The Soviet Union undertook the [[Phobos program]] with two probes, both launched successfully in July 1988. ''[[Phobos 1]]'' was shut down by an erroneous command from ground control issued in September 1988 and lost while still en route. ''[[Phobos 2]]'' arrived at the Mars system in January 1989 and, after transmitting a small amount of data and imagery shortly before beginning its detailed examination of Phobos's surface, abruptly ceased transmission due either to failure of the onboard computer or of the radio transmitter, already operating on backup power. Other Mars missions collected more data, but no dedicated [[sample return mission]] has been successfully performed.

The [[Russian Space Agency]] launched a sample return mission to Phobos in November 2011, called ''[[Fobos-Grunt]]''. The return capsule also included a life science experiment of [[The Planetary Society]], called [[Living Interplanetary Flight Experiment]], or LIFE.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.planetary.org/programs/projects/life/ |title=Projects LIFE Experiment: Phobos |publisher=[[The Planetary Society]] |access-date=12 May 2010 |archive-date=17 February 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100217221528/http://planetary.org/programs/projects/life/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> A second contributor to this mission was the [[China National Space Administration]], which supplied a surveying satellite called "[[Yinghuo-1]]", which would have been released in the orbit of Mars, and a soil-grinding and sieving system for the scientific payload of the Phobos lander.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.hktrader.net/200705/lead/lead-SpaceMission200705.htm |title=HK triumphs with out of this world invention |publisher=Hong Kong Trader |date=1 May 2007 |access-date=12 May 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120213201112/http://www.hktrader.net/200705/lead/lead-SpaceMission200705.htm |archive-date=13 February 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.polyu.edu.hk/web/en/media/media_releases/index_id_815.html |title=PolyU-made space tool sets for Mars again |publisher=[[Hong Kong Polytechnic University]] |date=2 April 2007 |access-date=23 January 2018 }}</ref> After achieving [[Geocentric orbit|Earth orbit]], the ''Fobos-Grunt'' probe failed to initiate subsequent burns that would have sent it to Mars. Attempts to recover the probe were unsuccessful and it crashed back to Earth in January 2012.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-16491457|title=Russia's Failed Phobos-Grunt Space Probe Heads to Earth|work=BBC News|date=14 January 2012}}</ref>

On 1 July 2020, the [[Mars Orbiter Mission|Mars orbiter]] of the [[Indian Space Research Organisation]] was able to capture photos of the body from 4,200&nbsp;km away.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Phobos imaged by MOM on 1st July|url=https://www.isro.gov.in/pslv-c25-mars-orbiter-mission/phobos-imaged-mom-1st-july|work=Indian Space Research Organisation|date=5 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200705020859/https://www.isro.gov.in/pslv-c25-mars-orbiter-mission/phobos-imaged-mom-1st-july|archive-date=5 July 2020|access-date=6 July 2020}}</ref>