The Phobos mystery is an unsolved mystery involving the disappearance of two Phobos spacecraft. The Soviet Union launched the two probes as part of the Phobos program, an unmanned space mission, to research Mars and its moons Phobos and Deimos.
Only one of the probes made it to Mars. A few days before it was supposed to touch down, it sent a few enigmatic photographs to mission control before experiencing a severe breakdown that permanently cut it off from the face of the Earth. Or Mars, in this matter.
Before the mysterious occurrence caused a failure and was permanently destroyed, the Mars orbiter returned 38 photos at a resolution of up to 40 meters.
The Phobos Mystery on Mars
When a scheduled communications session on September 2, 1988, did not occur, Phobos 1 started to function abnormally. The software glitch that had disabled the attitude thrusters when it was uploaded on August 29/August 30 is what caused controllers to lose communication with the spacecraft.
The spacecraft’s batteries ran out because it could not properly orient its solar arrays after losing its hold on the Sun.
A picture of the Phobos moon
Software instructions were part of a routine performed when testing the spacecraft on the ground to turn off the probe’s attitude control, which is often a catastrophic operation. This procedure would typically be deleted before deployment.
Removing the test code, however, would have required disassembling and replacing the entire computer because the software was programmed in PROMs.
Engineers chose to keep the command sequence in place, although it should never be used because of the upcoming launch’s schedule constraints. However, a single-character mistake in the upload sequence’s construction led to the command’s execution and the spacecraft’s subsequent loss.
What Happened to the Phobos 2?
During the mission’s interplanetary flight phase, Phobos 2 began to encounter issues. Two of the probe’s three computers malfunctioned when it entered Mars’ orbit.
One of the machines was utterly unusable, and the other showed signs of trouble. A single functioning computer would not be able to override the votes of two dead computers in the probe’s voting mechanism, which prevented it from controlling the craft.
A mysterious shadow that was found before the contact was lost
The high-speed transmitter on the craft faced problems as well.
With the help of the Videospectrometric Camera, the Combined Radiometer and Photometer for Mars, and the Imaging Spectrometer for Mars, Phobos 2 successfully completed three preliminary contacts with Phobos.
On July 12, 1988, Phobos 2 was launched, and on January 29, 1989, it entered orbit. On January 29, 1989, Phobos 2 ran normally during the cruise and Mars orbital insertion phases, collecting data on the Sun, the interplanetary medium, Mars, and Phobos.
Phobos 2 returned 37 photos of Phobos with a resolution of up to 40 meters while exploring Mars’ atmosphere and surface.
Model of the Phobos spaceship
Contact with Phobos 2 was lost just before the mission’s conclusion when the spacecraft was supposed to get within 50 meters of Phobos’ surface and release two landers (one was a movable hopper, the other was a permanent platform).
On March 27, 1989, the spacecraft signal could not be successfully reacquired, bringing the mission to an end. The onboard computer fault was found to be the root of the issue.
Hours were spent unsuccessfully attempting to re-establish communication with the damaged craft Soviet scientists. Then, all attempts to retake control vanished as the last image gradually appeared on enormous screens located deep inside the space command. The oddity was immediately the center of attention.
News of the anomaly was released despite requests from those in charge of the operation to conceal the failure and subsequent discovery. Since then, a photograph has been made public, but few Soviet spies have offered official proof or definitive mission data.
Monolith that was found on Mars
Since that momentous day, several successful missions, including the Mars Global Surveyor, Mars Express, and Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, have been dispatched along with spectacular experiments that space agencies worldwide have quietly supported.
These covert studies may yield the information required to either explain the 1988 occurrence or establish the existence of a strange force guarding the moonlet, helping to solve the enigma of the Phobos anomaly.
What did the Phobos Spacecraft See on Mars?
On the surface of Mars’s moon, Phobos, is a huge rock known as the Phobos monolith. A boulder measures 85 meters (279 feet) across.
A monolith is a geological formation made up of a single large rock. Although monoliths also naturally occur on Earth, the Phobos monolith might actually be an ALIEN building or a fragment of impact ejection.
The monolith, a prominent shadow-casting luminous rock described as a “building-sized” boulder, is located close to Stickney Crater.
A compilation of strange and bizarre images discovered by the Phobos ship
Ufologists had a field day discussing the mystery structure that was plainly visible on the surface of Phobos.
At the same time, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) mission was studying the small moon of Mars, Phobos, and beamed its amazing photographs from the little, potato-shaped moon back to Earth. Undoubtedly resembling a man-made monolith, a massive rectangular object stands there in plain sight.
Furthermore, in the final few frames, before all contact with the spaceship was lost, the camera tracked a mysterious shadow that was edging closer to the spacecraft at an impossible speed. This led many to believe that Phobos was attacked by an alien craft and possibly put out of action by them.
What is it, as nothing else in the area is the same size or shape? What does it accomplish? Who put that there, by the way?
Alien structure on Phobos?
Researchers believe that mysterious surface characteristics like the many grooves on Phobos need a special investigation.
Over time, theories attempting to explain the enigmatic monolith on the Martian satellite accumulated. In a short tale, eminent scientist Dr. Isaac Asimov proposed that Phobos was an alien ship that had been abandoned in the distant past and had been caught by the gravity of the Red Planet.
Many believe that the spaceship could have been destroyed by aliens. The Phobos mystery remains unsolved to date.
The origins of Mars’ moons are still up for debate. The significance or relevance of some components that make up the various theories is disputed by scientists. The main reason for this conflict is that neither moon resembles any other solar system satellite. Scientists need clarification on their existence.
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