\<COLOUR 1> LAUNCH DATE: \<COLOUR 0> July 12, 1988
\<COLOUR 1> LAUNCH VEHICLE: \<COLOUR 0> Proton
\<COLOUR 1> LAUNCH SITE: \<COLOUR 0> Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, Central Asia
\<COLOUR 1> WEIGHT: \<COLOUR 0> 6.2 tonnes
\<COLOUR 1> MISSION: \<COLOUR 0> Mars orbit/Phobos flyby
\<COLOUR 1> IN ORBIT: \<COLOUR 0> January 29, 1989
\<COLOUR 1> COUNTRY: \<COLOUR 0> USSR
\<COLOUR 1> COMMENTS: \<COLOUR 0> Second and most successful of two Phobos probes to Mars and its largest moon Phobos; carries 31 experiments from 14 different countries and the European Space Agency; monitors interplanetary space in its cruise phase; takes good-quality pictures of Phobos from as low as 200 km; but communications fail while being manoeuvred to hover just above the surface (Phobos 1, launched July 7, 1988, failed after 2 months).