The Phobos 1 mission was launched on 7 July 1988 from Baykonur Cosmodrome. The primary objective of the mission, as with its sister probe Phobos 2, was to explore the larger of Mars’ two moons, Phobos. In addition to instrumentation to explore the Martian satellite, Phobos 1 also carried instruments to study the Sun, Mars, the interplanetary medium, and gamma-ray burst sources.
The Phobos 1 spacecraft was lost en-route to Mars after a faulty command sequence was sent from Earth caused the spacecraft to shut down. The shut down occurred on 2 September 1988.
Mission Characteristics
Lifetime
Jul–Dec 1988
Special Features
Originally, both Phobos spacecraft were to carry identical instrument payloads. Mass limitations required some tradeoffs so that certain instruments were carried by only one spacecraft. Phobos 2 carried a total of 25 instruments. Of those, a few were high energy detectors.
Lifetime
Jul–Dec 1988
Special Features
Originally, both Phobos spacecraft were to carry identical instrument payloads. Mass limitations required some tradeoffs so that certain instruments were carried by only one spacecraft. Phobos 2 carried a total of 25 instruments. Of those, a few were high energy detectors.
Payload
Instrument
Characteristic
Details
APEX gamma-ray emission spectrometer
Energy Range
0.3–6 MeV
The APEX spectrometer was designed to detect and analyze gamma-ray emissions, particularly from cosmic gamma-ray bursts. The APEX experiment was a collaboration between Soviet and French scientists to obtain spectra for high-energy burst events.
Low-energy Interplanetary and Lunar Astrophysical Spectrometer (LILAS)
Energy Range
∼10 keV – ∼1 MeV
Time Resolution
milliseconds to seconds
LISAS (some times translated from Russian as “Low Energy Gamma Ray Burst Detector”) was a collaboration between Institut de Recherche en Astrophysique et Planétologie (IRAP, France) and Soviet scientists. The instrument use NaI(Tl) scintillation crystals with photomultiplier tubes to look for GRBs, examining somewhat lower energy range than most comtemporary burst detectors (including the VGS detector (below)).
RF-15 X-ray Spectrometer
Energy Range
∼1–20 keV
Energy Resolution
∼15–20% at 6 keV
The RF-15 instrument used gas-filled proportional counters to montitor solar X-ray flux and the interplanetary soft X-ray background. The field of view was defined by a collimator and usually was directed at the Sun. High time resolution allowed the instrument to capture details of rapid solar X-ray variations.
Vysokoye Energeticheskoye Glavnoe (VGS)
Energy Range
∼0.1–10 MeV
Time Resolution
milliseconds
VGS translates as “High Energy Burst Detector”. The instrument focused on the medium to high energy range, complementing APEX (for high resolution spectra) and LILAS (low energy coverage). It was a Soviet collaboration between SNIIEM and IKI and used NaI(Tl) and CsI scintillation crystals with no collimator to obtain broad sky coverage.
APEX gamma-ray emission spectrometer
Energy Range
0.3–6 MeV
The APEX spectrometer was designed to detect and analyze gamma-ray emissions, particularly from cosmic gamma-ray bursts. The APEX experiment was a collaboration between Soviet and French scientists to obtain spectra for high-energy burst events.
Low-energy Interplanetary and Lunar Astrophysical Spectrometer (LILAS)
Energy Range
∼10 keV – ∼1 MeV
Time Resolution
milliseconds to seconds
LISAS (some times translated from Russian as “Low Energy Gamma Ray Burst Detector”) was a collaboration between Institut de Recherche en Astrophysique et Planétologie (IRAP, France) and Soviet scientists. The instrument use NaI(Tl) scintillation crystals with photomultiplier tubes to look for GRBs, examining somewhat lower energy range than most comtemporary burst detectors (including the VGS detector (below)).
RF-15 X-ray Spectrometer
Energy Range
∼1–20 keV
Energy Resolution
∼15–20% at 6 keV
The RF-15 instrument used gas-filled proportional counters to montitor solar X-ray flux and the interplanetary soft X-ray background. The field of view was defined by a collimator and usually was directed at the Sun. High time resolution allowed the instrument to capture details of rapid solar X-ray variations.
Vysokoye Energeticheskoye Glavnoe (VGS)
Energy Range
∼0.1–10 MeV
Time Resolution
milliseconds
VGS translates as “High Energy Burst Detector”. The instrument focused on the medium to high energy range, complementing APEX (for high resolution spectra) and LILAS (low energy coverage). It was a Soviet collaboration between SNIIEM and IKI and used NaI(Tl) and CsI scintillation crystals with no collimator to obtain broad sky coverage.
